Stargate Fenrir: Awakening
by LordWinter13
Summary: Fenrir, the devourer of Odin, Great Wolf of Ragnarok, has returned to the galaxy. Reawakened after millennia long dormancy, murder, honor and hatred will burn ever brighter as he makes an empire to rival those of ages long passed. Stargate AU, starts in season three. Lots of changes. Empire building story. Mostly OCs. Mature content and awesomness. Stargate dialed to Eleven.
1. Chapter 1

Sg1Fenrir

"Whoa..." Corporal Harriet stared at the structure. "Looks bigger this close."

"No shit." Captain Ludwig grimaced, click his radio on, "Mikes. You got a good back track just in case this gets hairy?"

"Yep. Ironically enough, the path is covered with daisies. Or things that look like daisies. So! Easy to find."

"That's Idiot for 'yes, sir'." Baron chimed in over the com.

"Alright, keep look out. Back to back, anything sneaks up, yell really loud." Ludwig ordered, as he stared at the artefact further. It was in the dead center of a swamp, spires of metal protruding from the base of an oval body that peeked out just over the water's surface. It looked like a bald head wearing a long crown, and the analogy didn't help with his disposition, 'Well, aliens and their weirdo alien-gods exist. For all I know that could be a giant or something.' He thought grimly.

He and Harriet's feet dug into the swampy, wet earth, following the shallower route to the artefact. There was an ominous silence when they approached, not even birds or insects were active, just the gentle push of wind and the smells of the area building up.

'Piss on me...' A shiver crawler up Ludwig's spine, a loose wind falling out of the cave like opening, rushing past him, giving a sound that resembled a breath. Remembering to breathe himself, he took a sharp intake of air before clicking on his rifle's flashlight, descending into darkness.

[][]

"Holy shit..." Ludwig muttered, taking in the chamber area. It was massive, with central pyramid in the middle of the ceiling, pointing down to a spiraling path further down into the complex. What wasn't covered in moss, mold or excrement was a dark blue metal and a deep, earthy green stone, with various symbols decorating the walls but most definitely the pointed structure at the center of it all.

"Uhhh... wait... that can't be right..." Harriet clicked his firearm into its harness on his chest and approached a wall. "This looks like... Ohohoho!" He cheered, pulling out a small note book from a breast pocket, flipping several pages before smiling from ear to ear, "This crap's in Asgard!"

"Great. What does it say?" The team commander quickly demanded.

Harriet shrugged a shoulder, "Dunno quite yet. We didn't really go over Asgard writing too much, at least, not like Goa'uld. Could take me some time to translate. Distorted versions of Germanic and Nordic are really, just extrem-"

"Okay, okay, how long?" He sighed. "I wanna know if we're gunna be stepping on any toes or in a trap, or ya know. Anything bad." Rolling his head slowly, bored.

"Hmmm... well, if I was Jackson, maybe a ho-" He then stopped midword and muttered, "Okay... now THIS definitely can't be right..." Rubbing a hand along a bit of gathered moss. "Its... possible that these came standard in Asgard installations though. They had an alliance, would be handy if they had guests." He shrugged, "Unless this is the other way and this is an Ancient outpost." He spoke his thoughts out loud, faster than his conscious mind could analyze as they spewed from his mouth. That last statement suddenly made him freeze, eyes still and his body didn't move, even his chest stopped moving, giving a statue like stillness to him. "Oh my gentle Jesus." He quietly muttered, standing up and looking at Ludwig, "This place was made by the Ancients."

Ludwig gave a long whistle, "Big find then?"

He chuckled, the sound edged with disbelief, "Oh yeah. You can definitely say that. We should get another team here, more eyes, faster translation and all that. Maybe a team with scanner equipment to make this no prob."

Ludwig grimaced, "Could take a bit then and we're already here." He sighed, "We'll call in to the others, tell them to get some extra hands. In the meantime, let's get deeper in."

Harriet's jaw dropped slightly and he smiled, "Really?!"

He nodded, "Yep, we're gunna be extra careful though. I don't like the vibe this place is giving me."

[][][[[

Exploration of the ruin, outpost, whatever it was, went without mostly a hitch. Harriet occasionally broke formation and took several seconds to look at the wall and try to get sense of it. While this form of negligence did bug Ludwig, he really just got sick of trying to break him of it, and the guy was more aware of his surroundings then one would assume. They got into enough shit while he was in the middle of something to know that he could as likely save his ass as he was now, as he would do by going by the book.

When they had finally reached the bottom of the structure, they leered into a wide chamber, columns arrayed in a circle around some egg shaped metallic object roughly the size of a cabin. Between the columns was a small river or moat of an extremely dark, almost black, green liquid. What it was, not a clue, so they decided to stay on the outside of it, not wanting to try their luck. Could be a trap, or something. SG-23 makes its own luck, and knew when to wait for a translation then to tempt fate.

Or, that's what Ludwig convinced himself they did before he saw Harriet fiddling around with a pedestal in between two columns.

[][[]]][

As the egg-object began to hiss and squeal from its activation, Ludwig and Harriet dashed back behind the spiraling stair, using it as cover as they radioed in the anomaly and possible hostility.

The device began to separate into seven pieces, attaching to their opposing columns and climbing up to reveal a smaller rectangle of barred metal. As he began to pick up a shape in what looked like a cage, the green ooze seen early began to bubble and froth, turning into a bright green and the liquid quickly began to fill the now diverted area inside the moat like some weird looking alien tub.

The cage was slowly lowered into the green mass, the barred shape unlatching at an edge and folding out, freeing whatever it held inside.

The duo spotted that its occupant had its head on the edge of the green bath.

"Sooo did we just activate the hot tub?" Ludwig scoffed, weapon still at the ready.

Several tense moments passed, until Harriet whispered, "Cover me." And ran over the cover before Ludwig could stop him. Harriet quickly shuffled to the pools edge, pointing his rifle at its occupant. "Egh..." He muttered.

It was like looking at a human version of jerky. The shoulders and upper chest were fully visible, with the face covered in a wooden, beaked mask representation of a dog or something, hair grown long and stark white from staying in its tomb for too long. The flesh was a disgusting color of brown-red. "Whoa man..." He pointed his P-90 down. "It's good, the guys super dead." Waving at Ludwig. Sighing as his commander made his approach, "Tomb maybe? No. Ancients don't bury their dead, wastes too many resources and the guys were atheist." He shrugged again, "That's what the Asgard said at least. Doesn't make muc-" he suddenly screamed like a schoolgirl when a boney claw wrapped around his ankle.

He kicked repeatedly at the hand, forcing it off of him.

The being gave a sharp breath, sounding like its throat was being torn apart by a storm that was throwing up broken glass, coughing a fit from the attempt. The creature no longer appeared to be a dried up piece of meat, looking like something that was ripped out of a holocaust painting instead. Arms were without muscle, chest narrow and the area between hips and torso as skinny as a twig. Its extended arm was sprawled over the floor between Harriet and the pool, unmoving as if the energy expended to reach for him could take ages to recover, leaning against the edge to rest.

Harriet and Ludwig both had weapons trained on it. "Can you understand us?" Harriet asked.

"Breathe twice for yes." Ludwig deadpanned.

The being remained unmoved, its chest inhaling and exhaling at its almost torturous looking pattern.

Ludwig quickly ran several options, before settling on kneeling next to their quarry and placing two fingers against the center of his throat. The pulse felt quicker, heavier than normal. More likely due to its exertion, but still had a feeling this guy wasn't your normal home grown human. He nodded, "Okay, tell the guys to get ready to bug out, call for a med team for quarantine." He leant over the pools edge and firmly grasped a side of its light frame, pulling the guy out of the pool fully, "We're taking him with us." He flipped onto his back and found out that it's definitely a dude, noting an equally sorry looking set of genitals between his legs. He picked him up bridal style, making sure not to shake him up too much. The Captain had the personal theory of whatever reason this guy was in here, whoever should've woken him up hadda have a medical team or something to stabilize him.

Harriet was all too eager with the plan, despite his momentary strike of fear. The trek back was as silent as it was ominous, a sense of dread or grim uncertainty followed them back to the Stargate where the rest of the team was ready to punch in the address home.

Though they did not know it at the time, they regretted not acting on the feelings that stirred in their guts. Caused by the cargo they brought back home.

[][[

Agony. It rippled through his body in unceasing waves of gaining tides. Voice too broken to yell out, even if he would have allowed himself to show such weakness.

Lights, sounds and scents all mixing together in the blur of pain, save the non-mistakable clicking and whoosh of a World-Gate. 'Have my followers finally found me? Maybe they were of the Alterans, but those weak mongrels wouldn't desire my release if it would anger their treacherous allies.'

While he couldn't claim to be fully aware ripe fresh from his prison, he drifted to unconscious oblivion soon after they entered the wormhole. The embrace of sleep, true sleep, was welcome. Out of how long he has been confined, he was 'awake' for the entire duration. Madness scratched at the walls of his mind from it.

Whoever had him now, regardless of their reason, they certainly had a boon with him.

[][[]]]

"This stuff..." The egg head lab-tech by the name of Reynolds pointed at the residue that was secure in a test tube on the table near the observation table. "Is an incredibly complex slurry of minerals, amino acids and a variant of microorganism that I don't even know how to classify."

At the mention of 'microorganism', the staff present stiffened in their posture before he continued, "Don't worry about it spreading space AIDS or anything, the stuff only survives in the slurry." He then shrugged, "It, for right now I'm calling bacteria, consumes necrotic tissue and excretes several proteins that interact with the rest of the chemicals and cause an unprecedented repair of varying bodily tissue. Given twenty-four hours, this guy could be running a mile and benching two-fifty at the gym."

That got more positive attention at the prospect, but was followed quickly by a tone of skepticism. "Do we have any idea who or what this man is?" A butter bar asked. Reynold hated working directly with military commanding officer's. They were either strict as one could imagine or crazier than a mouse in a bag of snakes. While he understood that many would be a little lacking in knowledge, he just hopes they're practical, give forethought and ask for advice. Unfortunately, his little lab assistant lackey (whom he hired mostly for these very situations) wasn't in at the time of this event.

Reynold shrugged, "We're working on a translation of the ruins and some guys are looking at the mask he came with." He rubbed his chin, "Whoever he is, whatever he is, has to be OLD. This guy was found in a place where Asgard, Ancient and some other dialects were around. Carbon dating is on, but it'll take at least a week at best."

"I presume contact with the Asgard is underway? Maybe they have some records of who we're dealing with." A colonel almost mumbled.

"That, I don't know." Reynold commented, pointing towards said Colonel. "Probably. More than likely."

"So. Tell us what you know so far of our guy here." A Captain lifted a hand, "Apart from having a dunk in the local river, and being dried out like a piece of jerky how is he? Has he spoken?"

Reynold shook his head, walking to his computer station. "Not coherently. Mumbling sometimes. Don't worry again, recording everything, but he's been sleeping for the last several hours." He typed away at the keyboard for several seconds, before the screen popped up with results of the DNA testing session. When it comes to humanoids, testing is usually done for both records and tracking down areas of ancestry, getting a one-up on how to deal with the person in question.

The results were a bit... different.

"This guy doesn't have any kind of truly recognizable ancestry to earth, save..." Pointing to a set of bars that the brass honestly couldn't tell heads or tails on, "Certain traits that all humans have. But these..." Pointing to another set, "These things aren't human." He shrugged, "To minimize computer error or anything like that, I've ordered another test. But best chances? This guy's either like the Jaffa, and been modified extremely early in humanity's evolutionary development or, well..." He drove off, rubbing the back of his neck, unsure of whether or not he should actually state his own. He felt of flush of embarrassment, quickly shaking his head. "I don't know."

He then donned rubber gloves, walking to the bed's side. "And if you need any more convincing..." He gently pried one of his eye lids open. "When humans are in deep sleep, their eyes tend to have rapid eye movement, and to my experience lean more up and to the center of the head then stay in one place." The iris was an icy-blue, his eyes almond in shape and were staring directly ahead without and movement like a dead man's. "Here's where it gets interesting." He placed the monitoring camera in front of the eye, retrieved a small flash light and shone it. The pupil quickly dilated, to a near pinprick. The doctor gave a small giggle as he took off one glove, ran it over his side multiple times and placed it in front of the eye but not to obstruct the camera. The pupil then took a more elliptical shape, like a viper. "I accidentally found this out when I was doing the regular eye exam and placed the light on the computers' hard drive." He smiled broadly, turning to them. "I think this guy is way more sensitive to infrared. He can literally see heat. Maybe even microwaves or radio. Will have to do more tests when he wakes up."

A Colonel... called Vasquez walked up to the monitor. Reynold could see her name stitched into the uniform up close. "Crazy. Anything else out of place?"

That's when Reynold whistled, "You have no idea." He handed her a clip board with medical data, "He's got a heart roughly one-point-eight the normal size, with eleven chambers. His metabolism is off the charts, changed the intravenous solution to something denser to maybe help with recovery." And then he started getting giddy, moving to the patient's side and holding his hand delicately up, showing off his digits. While skin color was most certainly returning, he had a pasty pale complexion but it was uncertain whether this is his natural appearance or if it was due to the device he inhabited.

More specially, his finger nails, a metallic orange-red color, "At first, I thought the crazy nails was due to the machine." He chuckled, "By the way, snipping those things was gross and weird." He then turned back towards the officers, "But! I ordered a bone marrow check and a cat scan." He smiled ear to ear, "He's got red-bones, more to the point, they can produce non-specialized stem cells, bonding to certain areas that require repair. How the body directs these cells to specialize, I haven't a shine." He then sprinted back to the monitor, rapidly moving the mouse and clicking on another set of images, "For reference, this is normal neuroimaging activity for a human being asleep and being conscious." A blur of reds, greens and yellows, clamored and surrounded by tints of blue in the rough shapes of two brains. He then clicked on one of the arrow keys and sprung up a single identical shape, but this image was of more intense reds and yellows, with very little blue present. "And this is our house guest here, while sleeping."

The group had a glazed over look about them, "Meaning?" The Second Lieutenant asked.

Reynold sighed, "Looks human, but odds are, probably not."

Vasquez chuckled, "Thanks. Really kinda zoned on that one." Slapping a shoulder. "Possibly gunna regret asking; anything more?"

Reynold hissed a small breath in thought, leaning from left to right. "One very, very small thing." Then rushing back to his patient's side and without a moment of hesitation, stuck his fingers inside his mouth and pried his mouth open. "Look at these incisors! They're really impractical for mammals like us!"

Vasquez whispered to the captain, "Where's that nice man? Who told everything at once and didn't stick fingers into... any face holes?"

"Medical leave. Was hurt bad during that Neutral Planets negotiation." He whispered back.

"... and furthermore!" He continued.

[][[]

'By all...' He mentally gagged, unable to commit the physical act of it. 'What demented... hex plagues my tongue?' He then almost panicked at the thought of the disgusting tang was permanent, a possible result of his imprisonment. His tongue then shifted in his mouth without his command. 'Wait a moment...' He tried prying his eyes open, only to be met with fierce resistance. After a struggling befitting titanic forces of the universe, the world reopened. Glorious to see something else.

... even it was some disgusting primitive prodding your mouth.

[][[

"There isn't a way this could occur in evolution naturally!" Reynold's exclaimed.

Vasquez was the first to notice small movement from the patient, "Doc..." She attempted. She heard a couple of firearm holsters being clicked.

"Wait, wait! I'm almost finished!" He pointed out, "This man is possibly tw- no! Three things! He's a human who has undergone extensive genetic modification-"

"Doc." She said with a firmer tone.

"H-He could be some kind of alien who actually went through a rewrite to appear more human! Or he could even be an An-"

"Doctor!" Vasquez demanded.

"I was almost finished!" He threw a fist down in a childish fit. "Damn com-" He then yelled out in pain as his opposing hand was pulled out of his mouth and twisted around. It didn't seem so bad, honestly, no breaking of bones but he yelled out like a schoolgirl.

"Dzah-bameth uun..." The Guest hissed in anger, voice rough. "... zanhil aggin-uun." Pushing the doctor away from the bed's side with the twisted hand, forcing him to fumble over.

The officers probably took it worse than the actual victim, snapping out their side arms and at the ready to shoot him. "Whoa whoa!" Vasquez held out her hands, "Put 'em down. Be nice. I'd have done worse in his shoes."

The man looked between bored and fatigued as his gaze moved to the handful of officers. "Nungon?" He blinked heavily, before scoffing, "Durduna..."

[][]]]]

Several hours later...

"So... that's what? The sixth meal he's had so far?"

The man in question, whom up to this point has spoken a single word since the infirmary not even a name, was sitting in an interrogation room, a small stack of plates being gathered at one end. 'The guy certainly likes turkey.' Vasquez commented as she spied him threw the two-way mirror.

"So, we're sending in... Harriet right?" Major General Hammond asked aloud, standing beside her and another woman, flanking the general by the name Juliez Orchid. A major, air force, and maybe the most counterproductive bitch she's met. Not that she expected better from her kind, she's one of those officers from NID, probably serves Martin Kennedy.

"Yes sir." Vasquez replied. "Not only is he fairly familiar with the whole alien-doo-da, he's the guy that got him out of whatever he was in. Might be a bit more verbal with him." She hunched slightly, "Presuming that that translation machine is spewing the correct nonsense when anyone speaks."

"That may be a mistake." Orchid commented, "He's smart book wise, but maybe we have someone who can actually hold an intelligent conversation with a person?"

"Perhaps. But this is fourth attempt to get a response out of him. We may have to do something else. Maybe none verbal." Hammond commented, hands behind his back. "If this doesn't work." He sighed, "SG-Eleven has been taking their sweet time with the ruin."

Several seconds later, Harriet carefully walked through the door, locking him in with a complete unknown. While he was excited, hell, even ecstatic, he was equally as afraid.

The man stared him down as he wearily took the seat on the opposite side of the table. While still looking very skinny, he actually looked like a person and not a mix between dried meat suddenly wrapped in skin. He, whom the nick-name 'turkey-jerky' was suddenly becoming prominent, had a very sharp jawbone and chin, paired with very stern eyes with really bushy eyebrows, he couldn't help but somewhat see him the image of some angry looking owl. The doctor said something about the pupils being elliptical, but he couldn't tell from where he sat. "S-so. Nice to see you. You look better."

He pursed his lips, thinking for several seconds before continuing his meal. Harriet noticed he didn't use the spork he was given, eating only with his fingers.

"Yeeeaahhhh, so can you tell me what place we found you in?" He tried to continue. Clasping his hands together on the table.

He continued eating, not sparing a moment.

Harriet sighed, "Here's thinking that you would talk to me 'cause I let you out."

His chewing stopped and he stared at him.

That got his attention, making Harriet smile a bit. "Y-yes, totally got your ass out of the fire... wait... no the pool... wrong term anyways." He started strong but derailed into mumblings, which the translation device was more than happy to reply in Asgardian.

"By the Cosmic Eternals..." Turkey-Jerky commented in English with an actual English accented. "... stop that stupid machine. Hearing the tongue of that wretched race is giving my head sharp aches."

Those assembled stopped mid thought.

"How... when could you speak what I do?" Harriet gave a curious look at him, dumbfounded.

"Ever since you took me to the eatery-den." He scoffed. "It was nowhere near perfect. Not like it is now, at least." He leant back in his seat and licked his fingers, handcuffs jingling. "Needed time to hear more of your... language." That last word carried a tone of arrogant humor.

"Well... weird but we can deal with that." Hammond commented behind the glass.

"You are Nungon then?" He flicked his fingers at the plate, "The Second Generation?"

Harriet was close to questioning the word 'Nungon' but at the mention of the phrase that came after, he understood. "We don't go by that name. We're humans. Tauri."

He quirked eyebrow. "Which? You haven't made word about... Too-ri."

"Uh made word?" The scientist made solider asked.

Turkey rolled his eyes, "You didn't think I got this level of proficiency with your language by listening to those three dogs behind the glass did you?" He then faced the glass and pointed at the pile of plates, "This is the ninth serving ive had by the way. Use your fingers and toes, children can count better then you, Colonel Vasquez." Smiling as he spoke her name.

The trinity quickly felt panic well in their beings, Hammond speaking into Harriet's ear piece, "That is not good. Make sure we get some sound screening for him. If he can hear that well in-"

He sneezed several times before he scratched one of his eyebrows, "By all the..." Feeling the mass of his brows, he jumped out of his seat and stared at himself in the two-way mirror, though the occupants behind it thought it was malicious he then exclaimed, "I have the hair of a corpse!" He twisted his hairy brows, "LOOK at these things. That's enough to start several fires with. And this!" Grabbing a handful of his dead, grey hair. "This length? And this desiccated? How long must I wait to regrow my golden locks?" He then sighed, "The Asgard did this on purpose. Cruel eunuchs the lot of them."

Harriet's face twisted between laughing and being immensely intrigued. 'Pahahaha... oh god, they ARE dickless.' "Um haha, the Asgard put you there? Why?"

He shrugged, "Well. The Hierarchy, my Empire, was expanding too fast. Destroyed a few Alliance colonies, one of Tyr's massive armadas. Killed some of the blighters, but knowing the Asgard, that was about as productive as pissing into the wind and merely came back later with a headache and a kidney missing." He coughed, "The Alliance High Council decided to put me this perverse form of stasis as punishment, but believe I could still be useful in the future." He chuckled, "Apparently they left the stone out to moss, as the metaphor goes. Not that the Culling was promoting micromanagement."

"Ehhh what?" Harriet questioned again. He HATED being in the idiot in this situation.

"Oh. Yes. Simple terms." He waved a hand at him and leant back. "So, why bring me here? What would the Humans benefit from my revival?"

Harriet rubbed the back of his neck, "A friend?"

He chuckled at the statement. "I do owe you for my release, but aren't we the rusher of relationships?"

"Allies then." He placed an elbow on the table and pointed up with his hand. "We need any help we can get to fight the Gou'uld"

"Hmmmm..." Turkey grimaced. "Goo-al-Uld. Never heard of them. How long has it been? Is the Alliance sending their kind to evaluate my condition and reason for release?"

"Alliance?"

"Yes. The Altaran's, Asgard, Nox and the Furlings. Though, not the later likely. They would sooner force me to embrace death then accept me as ally. As they would many, they never forget a grudge."

"Uhmhuh..." Harriet shuddered, staring at the... artifact before him.

He smiled broadly at his dumbfounded majesty and nodded, "You would do well in my subject, Arnold." He nodded, in thought, "Yes. It would be glorious, the new generation assisting in claiming power in epochs past?"

"I didn't tell you my first name!" Harriet almost screamed.

He chuckled, "Ah, forgive me. That was rude."

Harriet's hands shook ever so slightly. "W-what's your name?"

Turkey paused only a second before he answered, "Kaennin. The name I was given by my birth mother."

"Huh." Harriet drawled, off put severally. "Mind if we call ya that?"

Kaennin shrugged, "Might as well. Keep this civil and what not." He then lifted his hands, "I would also want these removed, while we are on the subject." Shaking the handcuffs.

[][[[]]]]

"Harriet, son, stop shaking. It's going to be alright." Hammond placed a reassuring hand on the Lieutenant's shoulder. While it wasn't uncommon for different teams to be sitting at the same table, Hammond was used to having different teams report at different times, but two SG groups were used in this recent discovery, neither of them having a great deal of experience.

Harriet mumbled, "H-H-He's at least one hundred THOUSAND years old." Nearly urinating himself from the concept of the span of time. "He's walked with the ANCIENTS! Before they ascended! Before humanity's balls dropped!"

Colonel Vasquez had a hand on chin in thought, "Doesn't mean we should let our guard down. Actually, maybe the opposite."

Hammond nodded to her, "Agreed. If what he's said about his interactions with the Asgard are true, we may want to hand him over."

Orchid commented. "From what the doctor's told me we can learn far more from him that would benefit us." She shrugged. "The Asgard can get in line."

"General? If I may?" Daniel Jackson raised a hand, "This guy hasn't been wholly truthful, SG-Eleven have translated a number of symbols from the complex we found this man in, as well as..." He lifted a clear box container and placed it on the table, holding the mask he was found with. "This artefact. From what we were able to tell, this Kaennin may be Fenrir from Asatru mythology."

O'Neill couldn't help but smile a bit as he said, "Kinda like the big bad wolf of the Asgard, but so big he eats the sun and all that." He bit a finger as he leant his head against his hand. "I'll be absolutely honest though, I would've expected him to be taller."

Daniel raised an eyebrow at Jack, as did Sam and Teal'C. "What?" He raised a hand, "I got bored, Dan's Norse mythology book was on a desk. I CAN read."

Hammond scoffed lightly, "Now, please, someone tell me if this man could be friend or foe? The Asgard haven't responded to the communique, and I would enjoy wanting to lean one way or another when they return the call."

Daniel nodded, "Sir, if what he's told Harriet is true, I would lean more on the enemy side of things. He claims to have destroyed Asgard before, and we may want to have some extra security around just in case." He shrugged, "At the moment though, I'd like to learn more. Eleven went back to the swamp world to gather more data. We should try to get him talking while he's here too."

Hammond nodded, "Alright, get some extra guns around him. When he's out of quarters, he'll need to be in hand cuffs. Regardless of his complaints." He pointed to Harriet, "I want you to assist Doctor Jackson. Make this man more respond able, he seems to trust you somewhat."

Harriet eagerly nodded and smiled, "Yes sir."

"Okay everyone, dismissed." The general and his staff stood and left the room.

[][]

"Oh my." Kaennin chuckled lowly, "I already enjoy this world greatly. The food is excellent and the healers are beautiful women." Flashing a smile at Doctor Fraiser as she wrote his blood pressure on a clip board. The human seemed uninterested and ignored the comment.

"Okay, now..." She placed the clip board down, unwrapping the stethoscope from around her neck, "I'm going to get a heart rate. This is going to be a bit cold at first." She attempted to explain.

"My dear, there is much I'd allow you to do to me without permission." He then leant his head to one side, "Though, the test may be fouled. You quicken my heart, you wicked woman." He purred.

'Good god, this guy is cornier then ethanol.' She rolled her eyes. Placing the tool on his bare chest, trying to find his heart.

"Soooo..." Daniel Jackson awkwardly added, forcing Kaennin's attention away from the physician. "You don't mind me asking a few questions? Harriet's a colleague of mine."

The Prisoner thought it over, before nodding. "Very well, Daniel Jackson."

"So, did the Asgard put you in that structure we found? We haven't really gotten your side of the story."

He scoffed, "No. The Altarans did." He then eyed the doctor as she ordered him to lean forward, mirroring what she did for his front, she did his back.

"Breathe in. Out."

"Altarans? Who are they?" Daniel squinted slightly, "We haven't heard of them, the other three races you've mentioned and another race called the Ancients."

Caennan smirked, "Well. Then you found your own answer there."

Daniel scratched the corner of his mouth, "Okay. Now, why?"

His smirk faded, "Many different reasons." He sighed, "The Clans were under threat, I gave myself in, to preserve what was left of them."

"Clans? What clans?"

He snickered, "They have not come here?" He leant back, "Ask Loki about it, or any of the Asgard high council. Almost as bad as torture for them, being hypocritical defenders of all that's good and just." He spat sarcastically.

Jackson sighed, "I want you to tell me though." He grimaced, "Is your real name Fenrir?"

His eyes widened only for a moment as his gaze seemed like it desired to snap him in two. He then looked straight ahead and ignored the doctor as he continued, "I'm sorry if that offended you."

'Fenrir' did not respond in the slightest to him. Re-donning the clothing given to him by these humans as the physician gave him permission, slipping the shirt that hung from his wrists. He then peered at Daniel and stated, "Words. Useless."

The archeologist wasn't sure if that was directed at his apology or him saying the uh 'F' word. "I see." He grimaced.

"A favor in repair of the insult." He jingled the handcuffs. "It would go a long way." Kaennin scoffed.

Daniel hunched a shoulder, "Sorry, not in my power." He then fully shrugged, "Don't even have the keys with me." Gesturing to two armed guards that flanked the sides of the infirmary door.

Kaennin rolled his eyes, "Then if you do not mind…" He lifted his wrists above his shoulders, the clasps to the cuffs suddenly and without seeable aid, failed in their grip and fell to the floor.

The guards suddenly took an uneasy stance, holding their P-90's in two hands, ready to snap them forward in an instant. Jackson however stared, "How'd you do that?"

He gave between a snort and chuckle, "Mind and matter aren't that far apart as commonly conceived. While my clan and I are far from masters of this mode of manipulation, we can manipulate matter threw efforts of will."

"Telekinesis." The archeologist almost whispered in a breath of amazement. Soon, he regathered his thoughts, holding up his hands. "Listen, uh those things are a safety precaution." Denoting the hand cuffs, "Makes us feel more comfortable."

Kaennin rolled his eyes, "Why? They wouldn't stop me if I desired to carve a path of blood out of this place to the World Gate." He then squinted at the byspeckled man and asked, "Am I a prisoner then? Ive been one for…" He then started a low rumble of a laugh, "It seems I do not know how long I was in that accursed place. How long has my sentence been?"

Daniel grimaced severely, "Wellll… from what we've been able to calculate from the information you've given, we're estimating nearly one-hundred thousand years."

"Oh my…" His eyes grew to the size of dinner plates. "That… does not make sense. It is unlikely that the…" His eyes refocused on Daniel, "Does the Alliance still exist? Even after this long?"

He sighed, "No, though the Asgard and Nox are still around, we haven't met anything of the Furlings and have had only ruins of the Anci- I mean Altarans."

Kaennin quickly looked away, calculating the information given to him, before coming to the realization, "Then you've met none of my kind?"

He slowly shook his head, "I'm sorry."

He began pinching the bridge of his nose, closing his eyes in thought. "Then have the Asgard have asserted their dominance on this galaxy as well? After the First Culling?"

Daniel bit a lip before saying, "Not in a direct sense, no. We and a lot of other human worlds have a protected planets treaty with them." He slowly clapped his hands, pointing towards him with his fingers. "Since the Altarans ascended, a species of parasites called the Goa'uld have become the dominant power. They possess human hosts, and enforce their regime with a slave race of modified humans called Jaffa. With what technology they've stolen and reversed engineered, they have in their control uncountable worlds and even more lives."

"Goa'uld. Harriet mentioned them." He sighed, reopening his eyes. "If you desire an ally against these foes, this world has one." He bowed his head slightly at him, "But I request to be released and use the World Gate." Standing up from the med table.

"Uhhh I'll pass the word along, but keep in mind we are waiting for a word back from our allies, the Asgard. We want their advice on what to do with…. Uh this." He chuckled.

Kaennin clenched and unclenched his jaw, "Which Origin world is this?"

"Origin?" Jackson questioned. "You mean homeworld?"

"No, which world that gave rise to humans is this?" He gave a condescending look at the man, "You didn't think this was the only one did you?"

Daniel's brow rose with his curiosity, "Huhhh wow… okay, other earths. Um… that's new."

"So, may I see a planetary map? Maybe I've been here before." It took several minutes, but returned with a massive chart of the seas and landmasses, placing it on a bed.

Kaennin stared at it dumbstruck, mouth slightly agape. "Leirui." He gasped.

Daniel gave a questioning look, "What does that mean?"

Kaennin gave a conflicted gaze between him and the map. He slowly took his left index finger, placing it over the area of the United Kingdoms. He sighed, "My mother and I were born here, when it was the Ariis Penisula. Or, that's what I was told."

"Oh… wow… big coincidence?" He muttered, thinking that word 'Leirui' over and over in his head. "Leirui… Leiro… wait!" He pointed at him, "Clay?" Smiling broadly as Kaennin nodded. "Wait… two things…" He scratched at his nose, "Our world's name is _Clay_?" He asked, completely flabbergasted by the idea it was called something so… mundane. "And h-h-how were you born here? Homo Sapiens Sapiens didn't start appearing, not until thousands of years later. Neanderthals were the majority."

He chuckled, "To answer the first question: The Alterans created forty-eight Origin Worlds, from which only twenty-one or so manifested the signs of Nungon genesis." He raised a hand, "By the time humans attained intelligence of a majority of the worlds, they made a chart, a… hmmm I guess a line of greater possibilities? By the level of technology, they had managed to use as shelter."

"Ohhh… we were using clay." Daniel grimaced then shrugged, "Sounds like a pretty high score. Which number were we?"

The Prisoner coughed into a fist, "Ehm. Nineteenth. Highest number being the worst off, smallest being greatest. I believe they were called um I think the term would be Carved Stone, Onif-Dien. Though do not take my word for it."

"Oh…" He sighed, "Great." Feeling oddly insulted by the ranking. "So how are you from uh, Clay?" He chuckled awkwardly.

"From what I've been informed: the Alterans desired to accelerate the manifestation of intelligence in a number of worlds, making a breeding program of many precursor tribes of man and artificially creating offspring mixed with their own genetic material, doing this for generations." He shrugged, "If that is true, I was among the last to be brought into this world that showed promise, before Loki abducted us for experimentation."

"Why would… Loki do this?" He squinted, "Loki's an Asgard, correct?"

He nodded grimly, "The worst of his kind. He was even branded a Jotun by several of the high council. The insult alone is so shameful that many would commit suicide, not retuning for generations, or go into exile." He shrugged, "He was a scientist. He had a theory and decided to see if it was true and if it held promise." He then gestured with his hand, "It is unimportant. I've said much already and must give you time to process." Looking at Jackson with a smile before retuning his gaze to the map. "Do you have an ink-writer?"

He snapped his fingers, gave a _Sharpy_ and he began to write a series of Stargate glyphs in a vertical fashion. Daniel instantly recognized it was Earths', but he used the point of Origin as a root for two other addresses, one slanted and one horizontal across the map. He then wrote Three symbols adjacent to them, one half circular, ours, one pyramidal, another an assortment of tall blocks. He rolled it up then handed it to Daniel, "These are the three I believe that held the most promise. Use caution, much has undoubtedly changed them."

"Thank you." He nodded and smiled. "I'll be sure to check the charts, see if its anywhere we have been or could be at."

"This is merely a blade of grass in a field I would offer to graze." He smiled from ear to ear. "But for this, one more question. How long ago was this message sent?"

Daniel scratched the back of his neck, "Nearly three days now."

Kaennin chuckled, "Inform me of this measurement of time."

The doctor managed to explain seconds, minutes, hours, days then stopped at weeks. Oddly enough, he seemed to have already memorized the scale, as he asked no questions. Kaennin sighed, "I must see your leader. I have a message for him."

[][][][]

"One day?" Hammond questioned. "Son, that just isn't enough time. We're waiting for the communication conduit to recharge so we may get some feedback from our allies."

Kaennin stood opposite of the man's desk, hands tied in white plastic wrapping. "You give my release, only to deal away my death to these bastards? Or worse." He glared at the general, "They have not communicated because they feared my discovering their arrival on this world, and leaving soon after."

"Well, if you have committed crimes against them, it is not our right to give way to those they see as criminals." He shook his head, "I'm sorry, but this isn't just up to me."

The Prisoner sighed, "One day. Twenty-four hours, until the second, we are allies, by the code and by my honor. If my leave isn't given by then, if I must carve a path through your warriors, I will."

Hammond stared the man down, "I don't take threats lightly." He declared quietly.

"Nor should you." He grimaced, "Declare I escaped on my own, lend no help. Allow me use of the World Gate now or until the time is up, and steadfast allies we shall remain."

"Listen to me, the Asgard wouldn't trust us as allies if we did that. They are the ones keeping the Goa'uld from stampeding to our planet. And that is the end of it." Pointing at Kaennin.

He shook his head, "The deaths of our enemies rarely haunt us, good Hammond." He rubbed his face, "Indeed, I am willing to admit I am one who finds great pleasure in recalling and remembering their demise. It is my allies, my friends that haunt nights and moments of pleasure or relief. If you do not let me go, I cannot assure that my escape will not add to their number."

[][][]

"Okay, I r _eally_ don't like this." O'Neill declared, "This guy has no weapons, has a bad wrap with the Asgard, and to top off this shit-sandwich; he's got weird teleineses or something and is well mannered." He pointed at the door, "That's like, Hannibal Lecter had a baby with Carry. Seriously bad voodoo."

"Uhh I got the Hannibal part, but…" Samantha Carter sucked air out of her teeth, "I gotta say, I think this guy's calling a bluff. Daniel mentioned he has telekinesis, but he's only done it for smaller, simpler things like his handcuffs." She then shrugged, "Not much danger, especially if we consider all the guns we've assigned to him from the threat he made recently."

[][][]

' _While I'm inclined to agree, Carter, I just… this guy may have something up his sleeve we don't know about…'_ Kaennin frowned, deciding that he has heard enough. The Daniel Jackson is surprisingly intuitive for a human of this developmental era. He has guessed correctly, he has hidden both his physical superiority as well as his other psionic skills. He grimaced, 'Though, as the Patriarch of the Star Wolf clan, finer applications of telekinesis and energy manipulation are beyond my abilities.' In fact, Star Wolves applied their psionics like warhammers, brutish, barely controlled and about as subtle as kick in the nethers. It will be difficult to minimize casualties.

The hour of escape draws nigh, the number of guards in his cell not dissuading him.

'First, I must find distance. If the Asgard do come, I must then reach a world shortly after initial landing.' Kaennin had a number of worlds in mind, namely to the galactic west, beyond the Shadow Horse Nebula. Even the Asgard will be unwilling to use either World Gate or their fine-tuned hyper-engines, a great many gravity anomalies that would distort hyperspace, and less then reliable World Gates that were made when the Altarans first arrived in this galaxy, having a more reliable connection with their own variety instead of the newer ones. Not to mention, many of those worlds were Shore Worlds, planets that were used by the Clans, whom most of their infrastructure and government were space-borne, but planets were used for outposts, the bases of planet-cords, and, much later, foreseeable settlements and manufacturing centers. He just prays that he would find a friendly metal-mind. Many leaders had the Metal-Minds on their ships and Foundries gutted and made mere beasts of burden.

He closed his eyes, a section of his conscious mind staying awake…

Two hours and thrity five minutes…

One hour and fifty minutes…

…

[][][]

"Guard!" Kaennin declared, "May you bring the one called Arnold Harriet?"

Tweleve minutes and sixty five seconds…

That time fell to half before they managed to appease his request.

"S-so…" Harriet dragged a chair from one side of the room near, but not too close to the cage. "…what do you want to say? Talk about?"

"You must see to this worlds survival."

He sat back from the statement. Shaking his head, "N-no pressure then…"

"I am all for levity, Arnold, but now is not the time." Kaennin stared at the man, "And I apologize for the pain that must follow my words."

The lieutenant quickly held up both hands, "Listen! You don't need to try and escap-!"

"I do not speak of that." He grimaced, his gaze seemed to be focusing on a spot on his head.

"What ar…" He felt something warm run under his nose, feeling a sudden sense of dizziness and nausea, hearing his heart beat, his vision getting…. Woozy.

"We will speak more later." He nodded, "Guard! This man looks ill!" He declared.

After a small bit of uncivilized discourse with them ordering hands against the wall, they took Harriet to the infirmary.

Kaennin followed his prior activity, sitting on his bed. Waiting…

Five…

Four…

Three…

Two…

One…

End of Chapter

Howdy! So! Stargate thing! Gotta admit, nervous. Its gunna be a big AU, the original timeline gives me a huge headache and seems way too idk 'this is good guy, this is bad guy!' if you catch my drift.

Now, Fenrir/Kaennin (pronounced Cane-In) is going to be the main character of this story. He will take charge of an 'Empire Rising' story or returning in this case, with the Tauri taking a minor seat. And Sg1 themselves are going to be minimalized in this, SG 23 taking the fore with Tauri representation.

I really can't shove how much is going to change in the story or background story I'm this section. Ori and Ancient are REALLY REALLY at odds, but not in the same way they were in the show. And ancient isn't based on Latin and humans apparent affiliation with damnation and hell and fire isnt affiliated with the Ori. Thats Sokars fault. And seasons 9-forward? Yeah... No x) to sum them up, its a matter of how they ascensed differently and what was happening at the time. Ori ascended because many of their human followers committed mass suicide, Altarans being psionic lightning rods absorb such mass energy. But the Ori never ordered it and in fact never desire to ascend in such a manner, holding life at esteem that itself is sacred. The Ancients on the other hand, ascended by different tho similar means. Lets just say that it involves the plague, and cold cut, mathematical precision. The ancients, majority wise (not oma and her followers) are ruthless for truth and evolution, seeing it as the primary driving force in the universe. SG really needed enemies that weren't religious fanatics to evil aliens. Got bored with the goddamn Gould, that's their scktik.

Also! BIG BIG ONE! The Wraith are waaaaayyy different, but their aesthetics are thr same. Culturally? More or less similar, but they don't need to feed on humans or life-boring sentiences constantly, being able to go years witbout feeling hunger. However, the wraith as we've been introduced to in Atlantis are more of the hybrid/lower caste guys. The big guys, the guys that commanded them by telepathic impulse aren't in the least bit human but infinitely times more ravenous. The alliance was made to fight the Wraith, the First Culling. Even the Ori contributed to this conflict.

And then there are the Snakeheads. My favies! I know that Aztecs/Mayans were involved in an episode, but found that one kinda dumb. No offense, but when dealing with a civilization that's descended of central/south American cultures, I REALLY doubt they'd be white. But to the point, the goululd have different ethnic groups, and don't have any gods like Cronus or Hellenic deities. I've made three big ones based on Mayan, Egyptian and Hindu. Yu and others are there though; they are a much smaller tho powerful group. Anyways, the mayan one is more reclusive, residing in a corner of star systems that are difficult to access via the normal stargates used, being both blocked by fields of Nebula and relying on the First Gen stargates that have a big hit-miss ratio difference with the Vanillia Stargates.

And everything is dialed up to 11 with this! Everything feels so claustrophobic with the worlds, populations and cultures! There's going to be thousands of thousands of ships in the control of the System Lords. Speaking of, Apophis, in fact, no goululd has ever came back to earth due to the reason of the acnient defense network. It coincides with Altaran refugees (of whom, some may have been capture by Ra and would explain why he was the big dog for so long) managing their way to an interface and activing it to use against the goa'uld. Apophis hadn't invaded, his fleet was meant to attack Abydos, and use it as a beach head as the star was close to Sol and launch stealth teams.

And this takes place just days after Season Three, episode three, with Earth being included into the Asgard Protected planets treaty. There are forty SG teams at this point. Like I said. Dialed to Eleven.

Review if you want to praise or kick me in the ass! PM if you have any questions or comments! Ya'll come back now!  
Cheers!


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

"Oh god..." Harriet complained with a raspy voice and dry lips. His skull felt several sizes too small for his brain, and his eyes felt like they were seared and rendered from just opening them.

"Airman!" A woman yelled to his left, and brought a pair of hands to the side of where he was laying, a hospital bed he presumed.

"Alrighty, how are you?" The nurse asked, forcing open an eyelid and flashing a small light into each of his eyes, making him groan in discomfort.

"Like hell..." He placed a palm on his forehead, "Got a huge ass headache. Worse then a hangover."

The man didn't respond to his complaints as he rushed away from his side. It annoyed Harriet that he could say hello and then prod but not... Harriet opened his eyes further and noticed that another hospital bed was a bare meter away from where he lay. He was attached to more tubing then a beaker in a crack lab. Then he saw another, same as him, and another, another after that in congested rows of wounded.

"My god..." Harriet stared. "Hey, nurse! Airman! Whoever! What's happened?!" He yelled out as loud as he could.

A distressed and overworked looking lieutenant placed in his hands some pills and a glass of water. "Quiet, alright? People are trying to rest."

"What. Happened." Harriet demanded.

The man sighed, a mix between frustration and particularly staunch melancholy. "Don't worry about it alright? We'll give ya a check up in about an hour. If you're able, they'll tell you."

Harriet stopped himself from asking questions. Chewing on his chapped bottom in habit. 'Damn it, damn it, damn it... what in the Hell happened?'

"Isn't it obvious?"

The voice wrung from what he felt like every angle, making him turn his head wildly for its origin.

After several tense seconds, he sighed turning his head back and facing the ceiling once again.

"They lost." The voice said again, this time from a very recognizable degree. Harriet snapped his head forward and saw at the foot of his bed Kaennin, Fenrir. "I won." He smiled toothily at Harriet.

"Hey! Hey! He's here! He's here!" Harriet yelled at the top of his lungs.

Two attendees quickly ran to his bed, one's stethoscope clattering to the ground from his neck. "What's wrong?!"

Harriet blinked in disbelief, "Are you fucking kidding me?!" He pointed at Kaennin, "That motherfucker!"

Kaennin's Cheshire smile only broadened when the personnel shook their heads and said, "Listen, you must've had a light dream. It startled you. Go back to sleep."

Harriet couldn't believe what he heard, "Are you retarded?" He looked back at the spot Kaennin was, seeing it was vacant. "What in the name of..." He mumbled.

[][][[[

Several hours prior.

"He disappeared!" The airman exclaimed, his weapon readied as his partner radioed in the disappearance. "He just disappeared!"

The barred cell, once formerly holding a prisoner, slid open wide as the door opened, one of the guards stated to the small task force outside, "We have a problem." Explaining the situation, Colonel Vasquez ordered half of the detail, maybe six or so men to head to command, checking rooms along the way for the man.

As the two guards opened the cell and began to investigate, a woman on the radio screamed, "GET OUT OF THERE! HES STILL IN THE CELL!"

It was bizarre, an airman at the door saw the prisoner snap the closest guard's neck and kicked the other unconscious, all in the span of what could be measured in eye blinks. As he readied his pistol, the man lifted a hand as he sped towards him.

His rounds were either caught or were redirected, none landing a mark at point blank range. His grip on his wrist carried an unearthly strength as he felt the bones lying in his vice snap and crush together, barely uttering a sound before a palm flew into his forehead, making him drop. The personnel near were far more prepared as he passed through the door, firing their weapons at him when they saw their comrade dropping to the floor.

Colonel Vasquez registered his telekinetic ability in an instant when no one managed to hit home. He was somehow nulling the bullets, and they needed to get the hell out. "Pull back! Leap frog! One must be firing at all ti-!"

Vasquez has only been shot once before, a bad trip in Cambodia. Got in her upper thigh. While she wasn't foreign to being injured, she yelled out in pain when she felt like she had been shot dozens of times, falling on her back.

Vasquez rasped an unholy sound as she, to her regret, tried to breathe. Everything hurt, but what felt like was being actively lit by a fire happened to be her left breast, chest area. She spotting the rest of the team, same shit as her but only a few were seen or heard breathing.

She spotted Kaennin walking by, trying her damndest to point her pistol, barely in hand, at the bastard.

Almost sensing it, he turned on a dime, snatching the pistol out of her weakened grip and looking down at the Colonel with what could be seen as uncertainty.

A moment later, the base's alarm sounded, blast doors closing at the end of the corridor. He didn't seem distraught over it, looking back at Vasquez.

Vasquez coughed up blood, painfully smiling. "Fuc-" coughing up more.

The passive face broke into a humored smile, tickled by attempted insult. He clicked the pistols safety on and off for a moment before he settled on the safety being off, and said. "I'll make this quick." His hand was placed over her mouth as he ripped open the left side of her ABUs. She then felt a sensation that can be accurately described as if a flaming coal was being dragged out of your lung and threw your chest.

Kaennin chuckled lightly, "Don't die. It is not a good day for it." Placing the flattened bullet in her hand.

[][][[[[

"How many people are moving on the blast door now?" General Hammond asked as he and his staff busied about the SGC gate room.

"SG fourteen and twenty are sown there fresh from a mission, some other security teams. Maybe around twenty or so." A Sergeant commented, looking at the monitor that had vision of Turkey. "SG one are prepping."

The camera showed Fenrir's attempt to telekinetically push the blast door back, only to be met with failure. It comforted the General knowing there was definitely a limit on that ability. Almost as a response to the sensation, he looked at the camera near him, jumping up and seemingly destroying it, being only left with a burst of static.

[][][][[[[]]]]]]]]][][] []

Vasquez's prone though still very much alive body moved lightly as Kaennin retrieved a blade from the small scabbard hidden under her left pants ankle. It was smaller then his middle most finger, but just barely and was two sided. The blade wasn't used fairly often, if at all, at least for living targets as it didn't show signs of being sharpened recently but carried a faint, fruity-sweet aroma.

Kaennin grimaced, taking the blade, striking the point in the center of his palm and dragging a wound open from the center to where his hand meets his wrist. Blood dripped, the man groaning lowly, repressing his pain to the best of his abilities, pulling the rubber covered cording out of the neck of the now destroyed monitoring device.

Slowly inserting the cord into the open wound, he hissed as he tried to connect it with a nerve bundle in the area. Feeling way, till he sighed in success, feeling a reprieve from the painful sensation and the sudden jolt of connection to the local network. While it was unconscious at some level, he instantly knew how primitive this form of control was.

He took another deep breath, closing his eyes and attempted to make contact. His nerves 'attuned' to the signal-current that it carried, feeling his mind wane and thin as if near sleep. It's quite difficult to describe what is seen and what is felt, as the line between the two were stretched to their breaking point. What he sought in this odd communion of flesh and machine was the access to control these doors, disrupt communication, and map way to the World-Gate, or anything that can hasten his departure.

He found three, smiling privately as the lights flickered off.

[][][]

"Status report, now!' Hammond commanded as he grasped the side of a nearby desk for some form of baring in the now dim base.

"Base lights are inactive, even emrg…" Red lighting filled the room, "Oh there we go. Seems that something is…" The airman's sight quickly snapped to the side as the blast doors slowly opened. "Holy shit! Cut off the computers connection! He can't get access topside!"

][][

"Damn…" Fenrir muttered, feeling the Metal-Minds sudden discontinuation. He actually enjoyed how of ease of access it was, due to how it actively sought certain words for passing, almost screaming them when he encountered such forms of 'encryption'.

Kaennin felt a weariness as he activated his Thorough-Field, the blast door in front of him slowly lifting up to his freedom, the corridor filling with a crimson tint. The group ahead of him carried forward two weapons that shone an odd, energetic light as they scanned the corridor he was in, passing harmlessly over him and they proceeded, completely oblivious of his presence.

This Field did not make him invisible, just ignored by the visible eye. Which made him hesitate moving forward, as electronic visions, or vision seen threw a filtered medium such as these monitoring devices ignore this affect, rendering him vulnerable to them. Which made his predicament worse, as he felt his endurance wane holding this Field, the 'muscles' he used long atrophied. If he had another week, his strength would undoubtedly return to their former strength, but now he must deal with his weakened form. Though, that was not a primary concern at this point.

"Hey... What's with the blood?"

At the mention of his trail, Fenrir snapped towards them, a strong strike into a neck that struck down one, followed by the quick, inexperienced fire from the pistol he retrieved at the others.

Two men managed to fire their respective weapons at him, one with a P90, the bullets visibly stopping short of reaching their target and falling to the floor, while the other, wielding a Transphase Eradication Rod (a passing theory on the prisoner's sudden invisibility), fired a bolt which grazed his mid-thigh, forcing a pained groan from Kaennin.

The airman made a quick calculation, using the stun to hold his radio and screamed as loud and clearly as possibly, "Get the Zats! Energy w-" Before being cut off with Fenrir's hand grasped his neck, fingers sinking into soft flesh till they met bone and crudely tearing out everything in front of his spinal column, his victim gurgling as he did so.

As the man fell to the floor, Fenrir rubbed the blood that had splattered on his face with his opposing forearm, flicking his red covered hand down to remove what liquid he could. 'Damn. This might be a problem.'

Energy weapons, to most of his experiences, had little to null mass, even if they did, he would fail to telekinetically halt such weapons based on plasma or proton-bursts. They would cut through him, unarmored, like a laser scalpel through freshly baked bread.

He hesitated to wonder what a 'Zat' was, and concluded to not be in the line of fire for it. He picked up one of the larger, block shaped slug weapons from the unconscious body of his recent victims, shifting through the rough, screamed thoughts of these weapons as he inspected it.

Several seconds as he twisted and turned the... P-90, he released the magazine before sliding it back in, hitting its end and pulling back at the bullet-latch. Any weapon right now is a good weapon, even if his knowledge of it now is only whispers and surface thoughts.

Kaennin held still in concentration, trying to regain his Thorough-Field but the effort caused him to start breathing unevenly. 'My body has betrayed me.' He cursed. His camouflage is now nonexistent, he was uncertain if it was due to the weapon or the strain.

He held the primitive weapon with greater deference, feeling that he will have to rely on iron as equally as guile.

[][[[[

"We got reports he's on level 26! SG fourteen: intercept him!" One of Hammond's staff ordered over the short-range.

"Pull them out! Stabilize the survivors!" Ordered another.

Those were the only ones among the white noise of orders General Hammond could pick out. He was secretly concerned that his 'guest' lied, more interested in heading to the surface. Not that he was relieved.

"Alrighty, we're heading up to back Fourteen." He heard O'Neil over the radio. "Got Zats and Staffs out of the wazoo, we'll get him."

Before Hammond could have a small reprieve from the chaos, the emergency lights turned off in the SGC, before he could bark an order, a holograpgric image of one of the Asgard appeared in front of the viewing port to the Stargate.

"General Hammond." It began, "I am Tyr, I have received your message, am in orbit and will send down a Combat Team to secure the prisoner."

At first shocked by the Asgard's sudden appearance, he was in not in a moment to complain. "Level 26 of this base!"

Tyr nodded, stopping the hologram.

[][[[[]

Kaennin strode down the hall, quickly ejecting the spent cartridge of the weapon and replacing it with another.

He had recently replaced the ammunition exchanged from taking it from the defeated or dead. He hoped he was close, but was certain he was, the world gate was close, its vibrations, its hum like melody was growing with every flight he descended. Not that the sense was entirely full proof, being able to be replicated by a Burn-Stone generator. For all he knew, he was only digging himself deeper into a nest of predators.

He approached an opening, quickly rushing past it, the slower reflexes of the base's guardians shooting an unfamiliar weapon that made an even stranger sound, smacking against the stair's wall.

That wasn't the worse part. Soon after, he heard a beam in, followed by the bellow of a combat-dedicated Asgard's voice demand, "Come forth! If you surrender, you will be unharmed, if not I am authorized to take you back to your den in pieces!"

Kaennin cursed under his breath, if he began to move another flight, they would open fire and possibly shoot him through the walls. "Are the Nungon gone?"

"They have retreated back." He bellowed. "Your massacre ends here!"

"Hardly a massacre..." Kaennin said to himself. "What are you called?!"

"I am Agen, a knight-lord of the Valkyries! We three shall deprive this universe of your cruelty!"

'Excellent, only three.' Kaennin threw a cylindrical grenade into the door way, a small jolt of energetic plasma slamming into through the wall and nearly hitting him as he ducked. "Cease fire!" Agen ordered, the grenade puffing up smoke, beginning to fill the hall. "It was a mere insult, do not let him goad you."

Kaennin began thumbing several explosive device pins, "Tell me! Have you learned from our little wars? Have you learned well?"

"What do you mean? Speak clearly, clansman!"

Kaennin walked into the door way, the Asgard in their combat armor, now towered over him, nearly hitting the ceiling of the narrow hall. Only their foreheads were visible, their eyes and arms encompassed in silvery metal servos, controlling armored arms that were both adorned in terribly destructive energy weapons. Agen raised his weapon arm towards Kaennin, raising his own in surrender.

"You never learned to look towards the dirt." Kaennin smiled. Agen was near retorting, but was interrupt when a green orb lifted from the ground up to his face.

The explosion did not damage the suit severely, but being that close, witg its kinetic potential and mass? It did not need to be strong to liquefy the Asgard occupant, the suit's shielding made to resist energetic weapons.

In that brief moment when his last memory was transferred through his armor to the ship in orbit, he cursed himself and his superior's decision thousands of years ago to let this beast live.

[][][[[[

'So close! So close!' Kaennin ran forward, avoiding any contact with waves of his hand, sending people against the wall as he rushed down the hall. Rounding a corner, a blast of orange shot forth grazing his core. Feeling a wellspring of agony, he bit back and roared at the attacker, running forward and sent him flying with his strongest TK push since his recovery, pushing not only the attacker but several others along with him or her to the opposing side of a massive chamber.

As his rush died, he turned to his right and saw the World Gate.

He ran towards it, planting a hand against its Stoney surface and felt the dial up procedure begin. It must have taken longer than usual, as he began to register more and more pain, despite his body's ability to withdraw it for some time.

The warm, reliving draw and whoosh of the world gate sent him into a frenzy towards the opening, but as soon as he began to cross its threshold, a fiery explosion met his back from his neck to his waist as he fell through it.

[][[[]][

"You tagged him with a staff weapon? Center mass?" General Hammond asked a member who sat at the table.

Teal'C nodded, "That is correct."

"Then we didn't misdial and he's possibly still around somewhere."

"So it seems." Tyr spoke from his hologram at the end of the table.

Hammond closed his eyes. They sent a team to the planet he addressed to, all they found was a bloody dialer. But that was after they called the address the first time that is, it failed initially, meaning that it was in use to another gate. Kaennin, Fenrir, was now free in the galaxy.

[][[[[[

Kaennin gasped as he walked through the gate and was met with a dense rainforest, the heat being leagues above what he had left.

He slowly limped down the carved steps, looking back to the First Generation gate, noting its increased size and thinner area compared to those of the more common World gate. Cringing as he turned back, the wound upon his core and back burned furiously, and he felt his consciousness wane every so often.

As he walked forward, find a place to rest, heal his injuries, three figures were seen out of his peripheral, flanking the world gate.

He turned towards them, and instantly thought them some kind of primitive local. The trinity were all women, with all them adorned in plate armor around their chest and shoulders, their arms and legs sparsely protected with leather padding, loin clothes dangling from their waist to their knees. In their hands, they held staves. The material seemed like wood but he had an odd feeling when he looked upon them that the tips, bulbous, pod like and pointed like spears, were either heavy enough to cause him damage or hid something from sight.

His attempt to read thoughts were in vain. He was spent. Despite his superiority, his wounds and his short recovery from his prison would assure they would win if they attacked.

The leader among them, dark of skin and long grey of hair walked forward, her nose up covered in a metallic mask of some snarling beast. She pointed her stave towards him, its tip splitting open like an eye with a crackle of energy, the barrel now visible. "Aray Kree!" She ordered.

Kaennin chuckled lowly, "Thabel always said my indulgence of women would be the end of me."

"Bet!" The other two to the leaders' flank mirrored her, "Dor Kek nor Mok! Aray Kree!"

"Oh, bugger off." He waved a hand at them.

The leader quickly ran forward and slammed the opposing end into his face, forcing him to almost tumble back.

Kaennin growled, as she approached in her attack. She swung the club end again, but he caught the end where the club met the staff and it was surprisingly easy to rip from its housing, the wood splintering. But she was more clever then that, as he swung his new club, she ducked and twisted the front of the staff under his legs and finally forced him to fall on his back.

His vision blackened, the pain now too much. "Ohhh goddammit..." He muttered as she retrieved the club from his grasp and slammed it onto his face.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

"Tyr, what you have done goes against the Treaty." Thor spoke to the ship master.

Tyr bowed his head slightly to his supreme commander, "What I have done, or tried to do, was an attempt to halt the escape of a dangerous criminal."

"And you still prowl the milky way for him? The Goa'uld will not tolerate your presence for long if you fringe upon their worlds. It may lead to war."

Tyr thought of this for some time. Would he be willing to risk this? With the Goa'uld? Absolutely. If it meant the return of those touched by the Heart of Darkness, namely, the worse among their number. This was unfair however. He still had crew loyal and would follow him into the depths of Helheim on his word, but he must provide them the choice.

"I will send ship of those who desire to return home. I will not stop my pursuit."

Thor stared at him, eyes wide but not from surprise. Thor knew better than most Tyr's infatuation with Fenrir was deeper than even his own, but he would risk the Treaty, the lives of uncountable humans for his own passions. "I will send for you. Would you fight your own? For revenge?"

Tyr cut the transmission and summoned the crew for a gathering. 'Would I?' He was not sure. He would have to be greater than even the supreme commander in order to avoid the question in reality, but he may not have time for it.

[][[[[]

"He's a hard one." Figa commented, turning the forcefully asleep quarry on his side, showing those gathered the blast of a staff weapon against his back. Despite the blackened burns, flesh has been recovering from its cauterization since they brought him to the outpost two nights ago, with blackened, ashy flesh turning pink then pale as time progressed, shrinking the spot from its outer edges.

"And none came through the Chappa'ai since?" One of the elders of the group, a woman by name of Hassir, asked. She had many winters over the others in the cabal, mentoring the youngest alongside leading them, with the stresses of war and strife aging her despite a Symbiotes' regenerative qualities, with narrowed eyes, a permanent scowl and harsh wrinkles across her red skin, hair cut short and purely white from seniority.

Figa shook her head, "The runners have not come back. I presume not."

Hassir rubbed her face, callused hands churning away frustrations. "We were told that the moon of Tzchel would send more women."

Baxtza, one of the onlookers and one who retrieved the man before them, shook her head and crossed her arms over her chest, plates of tempered steel clicking against one another. "It seems that Ix-Chel has killed them already." Dropping a hand, "You knew she was onto them, Hassir, why do you act so surprised?"

Hassir glared at the heavily armored warrior, boring holes into her warmask. "You mistake anger as surprise. Do not make such an error again in that tone with me."

Baxtza's visible lips quirked in want to respond to her assertion, but bit her tongue and bowed her head towards her in apology.

"Maybe..." Another voice stated, almost whispered. "Maybe fate has given us a replacement?" She continued.

Hassir looked towards her apprentice, Kanyto. "You are not exactly a good judge of a fighter's arm. You defeated him. Why this vouch?"

Kanyto bit her bottom lip nervously, disliking her mentor inquiring into something she cannot prove. Yet. "A feeling. He may be more then what I have experienced. He was wounded, after all. Mayhaps he has potentials unseen?"

Brishin, quartermaster and self-titled master of humor gave a quick bark of laughter at her. "Indeed. He may prove effective at eating weapon's fire." Bald head adorned with tattoos of birds and beasts moved with her jovial expressions. "May also be good meat, if he doesn't recover." She tapped Hassir with an elbow, "Leave nothing to waste after all?"

Hassir herself ignored the banter physically but replied without looking towards her, "You twist my words now, but hopes that it doesn't not come to that." She knelt down, inspecting the wound on his back. "I hate burnt rabbit."

Brishin started a belly laugh with a chuckle from the other three.

Hassir rose, concluding. "Find someone to wash him, keep the wounds clean and give him water. No one on patrol."

Brishin rose an eyebrow, "Perhaps among the more chaste? The women here haven't seen their husbands in over three winters."

[][[[]

The Ix'Zary star system was as heavily populated as it was contested in the expansionary war of the System Lord Ix-Chel, Goddess of Prosperity. Or so she and her followers called her.

Cutting bloody swathes through nearby territories for half a decade; gods and mortals alike have fallen to her armies, vessels and magiks. Hijin, the front line world, has been the most barbarous of battlefields yet; when the master of the world was slain, the Jaffa and humans left were presented three options: join her majesty's army, resist and avenge their god, or die. The brutality that wracked the system from the choice would only be matched by the prolonged war that followed.

Many Jaffa had fled to hidden bases on the other worlds in the system, including the one which covered the system's stargate. The half hidden raids and assaults were bearing fruit at first until Ix-Chel landed several motherships on Hijin, combing the dense jungles in their near limitless numbers for resistance.

The outpost, if it could be called that, had but the most meager of forces to man it, no more than two dozen in a single day. An armory with a crew of human smithers, a sensor block to rally and inform forces nearby, and the most unkempt farm this side of the Stargate network, barely managing to feed the weakening defenders.

They have recently come to a threshold that their once limited supplies began to fit to them more as they had more limited numbers due to attrition. Now they were beginning to run low on warriors.

Hassir rummaged through dense foliage, unwilling to take a blade to the vines and trunks in the fear of leaving a trackable path. Two other's flanked, stepping low and softly with her on steps, Va'Toks in hand, ready to stand up and form a firing line. It would only in the chance that they were discovered and to inflict maximum casualties before they themselves perish.

As they climbed up a hill to meet a clearing, they stopped and looked on in awe of one of the ruined cities that dotted Hijin, made active from the occupation forces using them as camps. An Alkesh was lying near it, retrofitted with several dorsal cannons, used as a anti air gun while immobile.

Hassir sighed to herself, 'Just keeps growing more interesting by the moment.' "Move back, we cannot perform a supply raid with them being able to shoot our Tel'Tak down." She ordered quietly, pressing a finger to the communication unit on her cheek. "Btahm, do not move out as planned. Return to the outpost." Hearing the pilot scoff in disillusionment. Hassir felt a nervous sweat crawl down her spine, something she was able to notice despite the jungle's heat and her own exertion.

What would they do if they come? Would they fight to the last? They would only lessen vast numbers a fraction of a fraction. They can do no harm to the armada stationed in system with the tools available and the Stargate would only take them so far, if into the clutches of another System Lord, they'd likely be branded Shol'Va for abandoning their lands and their god, being killed only after extremely long and painful torture.

Either way; the game is rigged. There is always a path to victory, to kick these Vash'eewm from the planet, avenge their patron; Tzorgamin, and be left alone long enough to prepare for the next assault. It would take months or even years for Ix-Chel to regather a force to threaten Ix'Zary again.

Her squad trekked back to the outpost with little incident, spotting the odd five-man enemy patrol, but they were loud, clumsy and out in the open. Whoever trained these children, they did not prepare them for an environment like Hijin, the jungle of ghosts.

[][[[[]

It had been several days since he had made way to one of his planets. To say he was disappointed by the accommodations as a guest was an exercise in understatement. He'd been aware moments after he was knocked out, playing the part of the captured. Something he intended to never again commit when he reclaimed his Harbor World.

Listening in on their language had been a more difficult endeavor then he anticipated. Especially now, with a woman brandishing a knife towards his supposedly unconscious form as he lay in a crude hut of bark and tree limbs. He did not see her, his eyes closed, breathing shallow and ragged. The former he performed in part to keep the illusion of slumber, the later was authentic, his lungs still repairing from the energy weapon that had struck him as he escaped.

Of the noticeable words she mentioned as she knelt, knife pointing towards him, one was 'Jaffa'. Kaennin was quick to assume that she and her cohorts were of the slave race the earth humans mentioned. As she drawled on and on, her thoughts were as open to him as a book, reading the meaning of her words and quickly adapting them to his own mind. He enjoyed this tongue more than the human's 'English'. Something about this dialect, Summa-Goa, was intricate, efficient but carried a lace of aged pride.

As he felt the woman's drawl come to an end, better punctuated when he felt the blade tip come into contact with his chest, another presence entered his telepathic peripheral, in the hut.

This newcomer quickly barked orders towards his supposedly silent killer, to where she quickly stood up and began yelling back in defense.

Kaennin took this moment to open his eyes slightly. While the attacker was face away and heavily armored he could not but chuckle to himself as his eyes wandered to her posterior. The one beyond her, quite old if her appearance said anything, pulled a knife of her own as the verbal joist escalated.

'Opportunities are abound this day.'

[][[[]

"You dare kill someone on my watch without my word?!" Hassir pulled out a knife from a scabbard in her armor, "I'll carve out your heart and feed it to your children!"

Baxtza growled, "Would it be comforting id knew they would live if you led us further!" They slowly strafed, circling one another in search of an opening. "He is a waste of resources! We should kill him! We do not take prisoners, let alone vegabounds like some harlot orphanage!"

Hassir began a lunge towards her challenger, only for the fateful guest of theirs to quickly grab Baxtza by her throat, pulled the knife from her grasp and place the point in between a section of plates on her back. "Humorous. We are of similar mind." Kaennin commented.

[][[[

Lord General Raisa smirked as she picked up the small tracking beacon from the earth, a golden pearl, blinking red on one side. " **Seems we have our path to one camp of insolent rabble**." The Goa'uld commented to one of her Jaffa staff, head encased in a Humanoid with large eyes and no mouth, both glowing red slightly, having a crone, evil elder disposition.

" **These beacons extend to the east, close to the river of Tomin**." The Ix-Chel guard commented, pointing further into the forest, voice modified by the helm.

" **Excellent! Seems our spies are doing what they are being rewarded for**." Raisa smiled from ear to ear, " **These baneful nests of rodents will soon be exterminated**." She then continued in her own mind, 'Then we will kill the next. Then again. And again. Till all bow before our lord. This is the duty of Her Headhunters.'

[][[{

"Tell me." Kaennin asked, "Would killing the one in my hands place me in your favor?" Placing enough force on the blade for the very tip to break skin in her back, feeling her tense more against him.

Hassir narrowed her eyes at him, "It would not. I would owe you a death. She is not yours to kill at leisure." Thinking of scenarios of how to get Baxtza free from his threat. He possibly would kill her if she Hassir called for help, if she moved to retrieve a Zat'Nik'Tel, he would kill her, if she tried to engage him now, she doubted she could reach him in time, even if she could, a simple push to Baxtza into her attack would cause an imbalance long enough for him to kill one of them or even escape.

"Quickly." He almost purred, "The blood on this blade is making my grip... slippery."

"Kill me then." Baxtza hissed, "Kill me, then she kills you and we will settle this skirmish in the afterlife."

"There is no such thing, woman." Kaennin scoffed. "Be sile-"

"JAFFA! KREE! UR'MAN KE-!" A woman screamed before a loud explosion deafened her, shaking the area. The hut flew out of its moorings, its denizens being thrown to the floor.

Hassir's battle Discipline immediately kicked in, looking around the outpost, gaining as much information of the attack as possible.

'Artillery. Long range. Must be from a camp.' Hassir looked to the outpost perimeter, 'Massed warriors. Tight formations of four to twelve. Firing lines. Coordinated. Not a wild attack. Knew we were here.' Hassir then shook her head, focusing on the closest crisis.

[][[[]

Despite the factors which the wounds were healing, landing on one hurt like hell.

Kaennin didn't have a moment to recover, as he was quickly pounced on by one of the Jaffa, the elder, pinning him to the floor with her weight. She yelled as she tried to dig the knife into what was supposed to be an easy kill, but he put a hand up at it, having it sink into his left hand. He didn't have time to respond to the pain, throwing his fist into her face.

He thinks he at least knocked a tooth out, dazing her, but he was then attacked by the other woman, his soon to be dead hostage, with a massive stone that slammed into his shoulder and collar bone. His bones held firm against the crude attack, but it split open new wounds to deal with and limited his reach with his right arm.

Kaennin instead used his own hand, knife impaled, to shank her ankle, forcing her to a knee in a shriek of pain.

Hassir managed to regain her bearings enough to quickly slam her conjoined fists into Kaennin's face, feeling an eye take injury, his right vision beginning to blur.

Before they could continue the bloody brawl further, several volleys of orange plasma slammed near where they had battled, forcing a new dire sense of urgency and tolerance toward one another.

Kaennin pushed Hassir off his body, pushed the boulder off his arm, pulled out the knife from his hand and, enhanced with telekinesis, threw it towards one of the attacking Jaffa.

It slid home into a soft neck, the woman grabbing it as she fell with a gurgle.

Hassir and Baxtza used their time to fly down where the hut tumbled, find the weapons wrack they had laid their staves.

Kaennin quickly stood and ran towards the forest, seeing several vessels to his rear approaching the camp like a flock of raptor-falcons.

As he made way, he saw a vessel of some sort, looking like a carapace, three overlapping shelled similar to an insect, in the center of this encampment, filling with evacuees.

While initially he was going to instantly head there, kill anyone who derailed him, he heard then felt the impact of another high energy explosion, tossing him to the ground once more. Having more exposure to this, he recovered near instantly, on his feet and sprinting.

As he did so, looking back to register the aggressor's movements, the saw the pair of Jaffa that held him. The explosion had almost entirely neutralized them. The youngest, was either dead or unconscious, the elder was trying to drag her towards the vessel, bloody leg visible, wooden shrapnel buried in her right thigh.

Kaennin made a quick calculation, and acted on its possible results. These ones had kept him for something. If he saved one or two of them, risking attack, he would solidify passage, maybe even more.

Kaennin dashed towards the pair, opposing Jaffa switching to him as a new target. He through his wounded hand forward, telekinetically dragging the women towards him, shocking Hassir as he slammed his shoulder into her gut and lifted her off the ground.

Hassir's first instinct was to fight, but he grabbed Baxtza by her armored front, and started running towards the Tel'Tak with them in hand. It was perhaps the tensest minute she had experienced in her long life, terror of whether or not she would be shot from the inadequate abilities of their prisoner chilled her soul. But the fear was all for nothing.

Seeing the man approach with their comrades, the wing of Death Gliders dangerously close, those who were aboard quickly ran up the ramp to the cargo hold as Kaennin ran up, the Tel'Tak lifted and dashed in the opposite direction, engaging its cloaking device.

[][[[]

Kaennin practically dropped Hassir onto the floor after he released Baxtza, her armor ridden up her cheeks, chest bare.

He was too wired to even be distracted by the woman's naked flesh as he sat up against the wall, panting. He had no nourishment since he left Leirui, his body weakened in its performance, coupled with the lack of matter from healing his injuries, weak was inevitable.

He wiped a bloody hand across his sweat covered scalp, panting, leaning his head against the ship's hull.

Then he roared in laughter, bringing the attention of the routed rebels. "Ah! The wonderful feeling of escaping alive!" Laughing again.

Hassir was being attended by Brishin, having the sliver of wood removed from her leg. Out of all them, his statement cut her the deepest. She was slow. She did not prepare her warriors enough to survive an attack. How were they targeted? She must have given away their position when she readied the raid.

Hassir pushed Brishin off her, standing up, snatching a Staff from one of the warriors, activated it and pointed it towards Kaennin. "I lost good men in that attack. Do not mock their loss in my presence."

"I mock nothing." Kaennin flung a hand at her, "I am merely glad to not number among those 'good men', as they undoubtedly would if they had survived and another had died."

Hassir kept her gaze sharp at him, "Who are you?"

Kaennin was close to answering with his given name. It was almost too easy to, somehow disturbing him. He was not Kaennin, 'We are what we do.' He thought to himself.

"Yoo-hoo!" Hassir yelled, "Tell me your name!"

He signed, standing up, nearly at equal height with the ancient Jaffa. "I am Fenrir."

"Why are you here? This is a Jaffa world. Why did you come through the Stargate? What do you want?" She questioned further, the gathering of warriors crowing the corner of an already small cargo area.

"Why am I here?" He laughed cruelly, "Don't be simple. This world was never yours." He stared at her, then to the barrel, then back at her, "This world is MINE. I have come to reclaim all that I have possessed!" He declared.

Hassir narrowed her eyes, "The Goa'uld we have been fighting declares the same goals."

"I am not your enemy. I am better." Kaennin smiled, "At everything. Even generosity." He gestured to the fore of the ship, "Show me to the sensor, and I will grant you the ability to defeat your enemy."

Hassir, feeling evil spirits at work through the man, bore her teeth, "What do you want exchange for this 'generosity'?"

He smiled venomously, a devious display so proud and depraved that she doubted even a Goa'uld would wear it. "You and your women's unquestioning obedience in my own endeavor."

"Bastard!" She swore in a mocking tone, "You think you can declare such an insult to me? I should kill you here for your insolence."

He doubted she would, being this close to the hull with that weapon would be detrimental, but before he could goad further, a woman from the crowd stepped in front of the staff.

"Kanyto what is the meaning of this? Remove yourself from view!" She ordered her apprentice.

She shook her head, "We should listen to him. He saves you and Baxtza, an honor debt is owed, the least that can be done is investigating what he offers."

Hassir shook with fury, "You dare question my honor or debt to this man? I should kill you along with him!"

"You taught me and others not to idly threaten those who have earned both respect and honor through their actions! If you are not the same woman who taught me this, I should be the one to strike you down for betraying all that you wrought and had so lightly held dear!" Kanyto was glaring daggers at her master, trying her best to succumb her fear, as it knotted in her heart and stomach.

Hassir breathed through her clenched teeth for several log seconds before she threw the deactivated Va'Tok across the deck and strode to the cockpit.

Fenrir smirked as the drama ended, "Do I take that as a 'Yes'?"

[][]]]]]

The cabal had landed the Tel'Tak in a wide cave, surrounded by dense jungle, using the natural shelter to tend to foraging for food and water, prepare the dead and reclaim Symbiotes. Those that stayed in the Tel'Tak were a group of four, Fenrir, Hassir, Kanyto and Btahm, the last of whom was as close to a technical expert they had.

"There have been many settlements on this planet, none lasted longer than a millennium, but no one has ever found evidence of an underground complex." Kanyto commented as Fenrir and Btahm meddled with the controls of the Tel'Tak, the red Control-Orb having been removed from its encasing but still connected to the console, crystals and lines of light running and between it and its former house. The question was to placate Hassir, still sore and hostile from the day's events.

"Of course not." Fenrir stated plainly, "If our facilities were made so that they could not be detected so easily. One must know how to look first."

Hassir shook her head, but commented no further.

"What kind of..." Btahm, removing a set of crystals and rearranging them, "Boom awaits us? What kind of structure?"

"All in good time. I shan't spoil the surprise." Fenrir smiled, pulling out a multicolored cord of light. "Seems the battle earlier was more convenient than expected." Placing the end of it into his hand's open wound, starting to partially close.

They were astounded and horrified, but when the Tel'Tak's lights began to flicker and dim them returned to normal, they were comforted when he said. "I am attempting to rewrite the Directive-Codes of the sensor suite. It should not take long." He regretted not having the technical ability of the Soul-Singer clan. Of the clans, they didn't just create metal-minds and artificial life, they gave them sapience so close to their own that they may as well had souls themselves. He could use one of their lamest of disciples, it would improve his situation by dozens of factors.

"Done." Fenrir smiled, "It is..." The Sensor Screen appeared on the bridge window, showing first their position on the planet then highlighting two places on the globe. "... here. This one must be first."

Hassir squinted at the image. "This one, the one you want second I assume, is at the Vn'Nan continent."

Fenrir quirked an eyebrow, "And that means what exactly?"

"It is the heart of the invasion, thousands of Jaffa are encamped and motherships orbit over it." Btahm grimaced.

Fenrir smiled, "Your enemy? In the thousands?" Chuckling, "I wish there were more. War is something I have lost my practice in."

[][[[]

Fenrir walked out of the Tel'Tak, smiling at the moon light as it filtered through the hanging foliage and wet air. Was definitely smaller then Leirui's, but this Harbor world was small compared to it.

He passed several women who have set up campfires, roasting native beasts that range from small hopping rodents to child sized shelled mammals, feeding, tending to the wounded. As he approached the mouth of the cave, a guard came forward, "Hold!" She ordered, "None more will leave at night."

While her face was hidden by a half mask, he tried to flatter her, "My lovely flower, I have been given leave by Hisser. I do not know if you have noticed, but I require to groom myself and demanded I do it out of view of the women." Gesturing to his eye brows, now matted with sweat and grime against his forehead.

The guard snorted, "Yes. It is taboo to do it in our sight."

Kaennin then asked, "That brings to question, why have all the Jaffa I have met here been only women? I did not gain the impression you are single gendered." He smirked, "Though I will not complain if you are."

The guard breathed out impatiently, "Men here are forbidden from military actions, there are too few to risk." She crossed her arms after placing her staff against the cave wall. "The Vagakeem Goa'uld fear sons after the first. I do not know why, but for thousands of years we have limited male births to single pairings. If the woman is found to have two sons or more, they and the children are killed. We take a liquid called Vlimtza's Breath to sway a birth to be female when conceived."

Fenrir nodded, "I see, thank you. May I pass?"

He progressed down the narrow steps, following a narrow stream that gradually wide enough to bathe in.

He discarded the green fatigues that he was given at the Huma base, taking a knife he was given and walked into the green waters. Washing was the primary concern, blood and sweat had accumulated over three days of strife. Bathing seemed to finalize what has been occurring, a final moment where he will be on the disadvantage, where he will begin to reclaim his greatness.

When he was done with the primary spots, he left the cold confines of the lake, walking up to its sands and began cutting away at overgrown hair, dropping it out of reach of the water. What was the most difficult was his hair, it has withered dead, but he abhorred being completely bald. He cut it short, the ragged hair only being a centimeter long on his scalp.

As soon as he was done with that, he walked back into the lake, despite its inhospitable temperature, it was beyond relaxing. A bath to wash away the fifth of recent days.

Fenrir opened his eyes, "Approach clearly. Night is never dim to me, whoever you are." Looking towards where he came from, a figure amongst the trees.

"You are quite direct for a man." Baxtza walked out from behind a tree. "It's odd."

Fenrir rolled his eyes, "From what I am told of your customs; that makes sense."

Baxtza came to the foot of the lake. "I have come here to give my thanks."

Fenrir chuckled, "Ah, I figured you were going to try and stab me while I was awake for being a, what did you call me, 'a waste of good water'?"

"You were." She scoffed, "that changed when you saved me and Hassir."

He shrugged, "You were going to kill her if your enemy did not rouse your survival instincts. If you wish to thank me; do it honestly."

Baxtza threw the bundle of clothing under her arm on the floor. "I have brought you clothing. It may not be clean of blood but it's as clean as we could give."

Fenrir smirked, "My thanks. I wouldn't wish to keep you when you desire to leave. Have a pleasant night, we're going to have a very busy day."

After moments of silence, he grew frustrated with her idle presence. He closed his eyes and tried to touch her mind, only to straighten, surprised, when he felt her brush against him in the river.

She was an impressive woman to be sure, muscles refined to an amazing degree, breasts lean and face, though scarred here and there, was quite pretty along with her umbra black hair, deep brown eyes and dark skin.

Fenrir... Kaennin, was stunned for a moment, hesitant but eager to take this woman in throws of passion, but he doubted exposing her in such a way was wise, he did not trust her and she undoubtedly did not trust him. "Why are you doing this, my sweet?" Trying to make her think he was buying into her feminine wiles.

She hunched a shoulder, wiping her face of water. "Does it matter? I am propositioning you, do you want to do this or have I bigger balls then you?"

The attempted jibe made him laugh, "Clearly you did, but you lost them when I had to drag your sorry carcass to the ship."

Without another word, she pressed her lips against his. He didn't push back, squinting slightly in thought towards this act. What benefit would this bring to her? He was an outsider to these people, it would bring her to suspicious if they saw them do this. To Fenrir, everything, in a way, was all about sex. Except rarely sex itself. In majority of cases, it was about a simple thing that he himself desired: power. Others, pleasure, boredom, and then finally, after all possibility of reason is exhausted, affection.

He could not see why in any reason. Maybe she thinks he'd think better of her? Ignore her past actions? Perhaps.

Fenrir began kissing her back, feeling her tongue run across his lips as she reached down towards his crotch. 'Heh, if anything, this exercise will let me know if the plumbing down there still works after all this time.'

They guided each other back to shallower waters, Fenrir grasping at Baxtza's clothing, feeling for ties and knots keeping it on her, but using it to feel the firm flesh beneath. He was glad that she had momentarily joined him in the water, as it likely cleared up some the filth acquired recently, sliding fingers on the edge of the garment that lay under her loin cloth.

She gave a confused gasp, parting her mouth from his, "What are you…?"

Fenrir smiled, "I suggest you lay down, you may not be able to stand shortly." Though she remained standing as he began to lower himself towards her womanhood he chuckled, "As you wish." Relieving the buckle of her belt, unveiling her midsection and her bush to him. What disturbed him when he did so, however, was the curious 'X' across her lower abdomen. "What… is this?" He reached a hand out as if to touch it, but hesitated just before he did.

Baxtza rose and eyebrow, "You were not aware of a Jaffa's Symbiote pouch?" She then gave a curious look, "Where are you from?"

"Symbiote?" He looked up at her, still in her knelt position.

She quickly felt her arousal, as well as his own, diminish at his confusion, "Yes, I have an immature Goa'uld within me, a Prim'Ta, as it nurtures my strength, assures my ability to live, so do I nurture it. In time, it will be strong enough to take a human host."

Fenrir held back his laughter as he spoke, "I hope the creature does not act as an audience." Fingers slowly feeling up past her knees, pulling her underwear, a fabric thong of some kind that was slid tightly in place in her nethers and ass, perhaps to deny local insect life access and cause problems.

He placed all thought of further explanation aside, pushing her legs apart by her calves, she slowly relented to his suggestion and hissed a pleasant breath as he lapped his tongue across her quim, tasting the mix of water and sweat that has built up. She tensed against him, gripping the top of his head.

He smiled as he continued his ministrations, feeling his own genitals grow as his arousal peaked, glad that a Jaffa's physiology was not different where he was standing. While his left hand and mouth were busy seeing to her lower lips and the small bulb above it, he reaches up and grasped one of Baxtza's breast through her small shirt, covering her chest up past her shoulder bones.

He had a stroke of pride when he managed to make her give a soft moan. Fenrir initially thought he was completely lost in the matters of flesh, needing to regain the former glory he had before which took many woman and many more years to perfect his technique. Seems _this_ reclamation was going to be easier then he anticipated.

He shoved his entire face between her legs, wrapping his mouth around her clit and sucking on the tender organ with relish, making her buckle against him, simultaneously sliding his middle finger into her. He was certain the moistness that flowed from her was not just water.

He removed his hand from her breast, hiking her chest clothing up, using his new hand to balance her as he pushed her to the mud, her impact sending some of the muck on his face, clouded with her juices.

He pounced on her like a seasoned predator, pinning one of her wrists against the wet ground, whilst slamming his mouth onto hers, using his freed hand to guide his manhood as he guided then slammed his hips to hers, conjoining them in a shared groan of pleasure. He could not say for certain whether she felt as he did, but Fenrir was in utter bliss; the velvety flesh that wrapped around among his most sensitive of organs made him shiver in delight. He lost his objectivity of making his current companion feel all the pleasures that he could offer, focusing on his needs, which had been unknowingly been building up for over one-hundred thousand years.

He cursed quietly to himself in a long dead dialect, feeling the buildup of pleasure in his loins, quaking as he picked up the pace, racing to a debauching nirvana

What he did not expect next, amidst his narrow minded buildup, was Baxtza to quickly shove him to the side, making him quickly deflate from finishing as his side dug in muck.

Baxtza laughed playfully as she then pushes him over, fully on his back with a foot, leaving a messy print on his chest. She quickly spoke something in Summa'Goa, but he did not listen as she climbed back onto him, grabbing his manhood and guiding it back inside her, the quiet cold that was made by their respective absences, forcing a moan out of both of them as they were again conjoined. This cold-hot element only brought their climaxes to a peek that was not reached before.

The Jaffa brought a pained though pleasurable groan to Fenrir when she nuzzled his neck and bit into him so strongly he was quite certain she broke skin, not that he did not enjoy the sensation, in combination with her hopping or grinding against his cock.

He grasped her hips, forcing him deeper within her as he felt his climax rising once more. Sensing this, she placed her hands on his chest and quickening her pace.

He quickly yelled out, "Baxtza!" As he erupted within her in an explosion of unadulterated pleasure.

He was momentarily dazed, coming down from his high, noticing Baxtza laying upon him, panting.

He placed a hand on the back of her head, stroking wet, rough hair as he sighed. "Amongst the nicest of apologies I have yet received." As she looked upon to respond, he silenced her by flipping her onto her own side much like how she did to him, placing himself on her as he purred "Thus, should savor it to its fullest. Completely." He was uncertain if she desired only a single bout of pleasure, but frankly, he did not care for her intentions or plans at this moment, focused on using her as she undoubtedly wishes to use him in the future.

Little do they know of the pair of eyes currently observing the… act, one using the other, both parties unclear of their purpose in their action. Plotting, scheming, smiling.

[][[[[]

SGC

Harriet rocked his foot uneasily as he sat in his chair. "Why? What is happening to me?"

Fenrir, sitting on the desk in front of him, crossed a leg over the other. "You need guidance, my young friend. Wisdom that you cannot accumulate on your own, not yet."

Harriet cringed as another item in his quarters topside slammed to the ground, seemingly by its own will, a clothes drawer in the bedroom.

Harriet held his family picture in hand as he started to rock back and forth in the fettle position, making certain that it was never damage. He was anticipating the next shock, the wave of crazy that had followed the crazy topilings, crackings and slammings of his personal effects.

He closed his eyes, nails digging into palms in harrowing horror of what is to come, "Why is this happening!?" He asked the ghost of the man that has been haunting him since he was aware days ago.

Kaennin felt the onslaught approaching him and placed an immaterial hand on his shoulder, as Harriet held himself in cowardly capitulation to what is to come. "Because, you must know their pain." Looking up and gesturing to the ceiling, "You must learn to enjoy the pain."

Harriet's next moment, he connected to the minds of every man, woman and child in the next spherical kilometer, every lie, every pint of anger over the disappointment over every dinner, every tang of alcohol, every moment of pain, hatred, love and sorrow. All in a moment, all at once.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

"A defense system may still be active," Fenrir continued, "if it is, fall back to the transport." Still struggling with certain terms, omitting 'Tel'Tak' from the plan.

"What happens if it isn't?" Hassir asked.

Fenrir smiled and shrugged his head to onside, "I would suggest praying but your god is dead. And they wouldn't take you seriously with that tooth whistle." As he left the Tel'Tak with Brishin and Baxtza, beginning their trek into the very heart of Nnin'ois grove, a center of foliage so thick, it was rumored one would choke upon the various toxins, vines and insects by walking as softly as an ant. The Tel'Tak was left only with Btahm and three other warriors, but it will be cloaked constantly until they manage to effectively camouflage the vehicle.

Bravado aside, the main group were moving into an area that was undoubtedly as treacherous as it was arduous.

Fenrir was more than prepared for it. It had been two days since they fled the outpost, barely less than that since he tested his reproductive abilities. The travel to this point had to be both cautious as well as slow. The Ha'Taks's, motherships, in orbit can track vessels by velocity and a Tel'Tak's cloak would begin to be disrupted when it reaches higher speeds, making this tracking feature to apply to them.

In that time, Fenrir had regained his strength and more, feeling his Thorough-Field return to functionality, his strength being able to crush spines in his hands, rip bones from flesh and was more then eager to test his abilities to their fullest in the days ahead.

Despite his optimism, he felt severely under-dressed for this. When all the party, save him, were furnished with a staff weapon and armor, he was clothed only around his mid-section, the clothes so graciously salvaged for him being only able to cover up so much, the loin cloth on reaching above his knees, and pale chest exposed to the rogue elements of an overgrown world, and only a rusted machete given to clear a path if the vegetation was too thick.

As they made their travels deep into the thick, pathless foliage after many hours of something just short of complete silence, Fenrir was approached by one who he has not held some form of communication with, whether it was combative or verbal.

"Excuse, Fenrir, a word if you will." Kanyto asked, voice inquisitive if light from either insecurity or uncertainty.

As Fenrir slashed through a set of thick vines and branches, he took notice of her and nodded, "Speak your mind."

"How are you aware of these structures? Of their contents?" She asked, unsure if Hassir or another has asked these same questions but she did not hear the answer. "And why have you come now?"

Fenrir laughed a bit at the last question, "Was too busy waiting." Cleaving down with his steel short sword, "I am aware of these facilities because I put them there. They are mine."

Kanyto turned her head in a manner that denoted a great deal of confusion. "How? If what you have said of these structures is true, they were made long before the gods came to this area, thousands upon thousands of years ago. Even then, they were not known."

He shrugged, "My negligence of belongings is somewhat lengthy then."

"But... what does that make you? Not human, clearly. A Goa'uld would not have wandered blindly into this conflict knowing who was likely stationed at the Chappa'ai."

Fenrir squinted briefly at her, "That was you?"

Bashful, she looked away, "It was my hand that led to your capture, yes."

Against her expectations, he chuckled, "Have not had a woman get me on my back so effectively."

That made Kanyto blush, thankful that her mask had covered up enough that it was not visible, making her forget the question. "What is your purpose then? With these tools that await?"

"Reclamation." He stated simply, "I will reclaim my old territories, reactivate the lost ClanTech in the area." He bit his lip in sour taste, "But I doubt it will be that simple. Something tells me that your kind and these Goa'uld own more of the local stars then I presume."

Kanyto nodded, "Indeed." Quickening to his side when the rough path ahead grew narrow, "What would you do with us? Would this reclamation...? Would it see us harmed?"

"Only if you stand in my way."

"What of the Goa'uld?"

Fenrir detected just a whiff of desperation from the question, "These beings worshipped as gods would be deposed. If they do not do as I will, they will die."

Kanyto paused and blinked, "These weapons can see this done? Truly?"

"Tools are only as strong as those who wield them." He looked her in the eyes, "I would see it done."

"Then..." She quickly looked to her flanks, noting they were out of eyeshot, and she quickly knelt before him, shocking his features into a surprised gape, "I would swear my life to your cause if you would see the Jaffa free from the Goa'uld!" She swore.

Fenrir was momentarily shocked before he rushed to Kanyto and lifted her to her feet. "Stand up, stand up." He ordered quietly, "Not the time or the place, you jump to conclusions, youth. If you and your fellows worship the Goa'uld as gods then I would have to face yours as well. This alliance is temporary and beneficial in the short term. Do not cling to me in short sightedness."

"T-Then maybe you will consider having others fight alongside you?" She quickly added quickly, "I am certain of others who wish for the Goa'uld's demise as I do! Hear me, please!"

Fenrir could detect in his telepathic periphery that others were aware of her talking to him, but he was intrigued nonetheless. He looked at her and nodded, "Be quiet about it, you understand?"

[][[[[

"Seems the young blood has made a friend." Brishin commented to Hassir. "Worried about your apprentice getting used to following someone else?"

Hassir didn't look at the poorest of jesters as she rolled her eyes, "She follows me by her choice. If she believes another is better suited to her, so be it."

"Ever the stoic master." Baxtza commented with enough venom to bring down. "You preferred her over many others to train, but would hand her off so freely?"

Hassir looked back at Baxtza, "I prefer her over many, perhaps, but above all, I preferred her over you." Hassir continued forward, "You may be the older, stronger sister, but you are half the Jaffa she is."

Baxtza clenched her jaw, fingers gripping her staff till knuckles whitened, "You are incorrect. Her father was a half breed. She is literally less Jaffa than anyone else on this world."

Hassir shook her head, "Genetics are one thing, but spirit is quite another. Where it leads her, I believe it to be where any true Jaffa should tread. A true path."

Brishin chuckled, "So if he happens to bed her, would you keep that in recommendation for a Jaffa's 'true path'." Hassir managed to glare at the quartermaster but said nothing as she continued with, "So is she a third human? A quarter? Was never good at counting."

Figa scoffed, "And she's quartermaster. No wonder we have been losing, she probably gives two Va'Toks for every one warrior."

"Only when I like them." Brishin smiled. "Or I hate them. It is so easy to mix them up these days."

[][[[][

"... and that is where we are now, in the yoke of slavery from false gods." Kanyto ended her retelling of Jaffa history.

"You were once human? Taken by aliens and made weapons, tools for their own ends?" Fenrir smiled at her.

She glared back at his expression, "You find my people's history amusing?"

"I find it familiar."

The statement stumped the young warrior, 'Familiar? How? In what way?'

Fenrir's smile descended into a smirk, thinking back in her own mind, 'I can show you, if you wish.'

Kanyto stopped mid pace as she heard his voice within her own head. "You can...?" She stopped verbally, asking mentally, 'You can read thoughts?'

'Among other things.' He sent a quick flash of him ravishing several women and all the sensations he had experienced during the session.

Kanyto's mouth was a wide 'O', her mask hiding a majority of his face from him, but could feel the mix of both his own arousal, her own and that kernel of both fear and utter fascination from this talk. 'Y-you... what are you? This should be impossible! Are you...?' Her thoughts flooded with tales of her father telling her the tales of Dakara, Kheb, of the holy places the Great Others have touched and of the possibility that, maybe, this man was one of them.

"Come, do not let me waste in silence." Fenrir continued his sly smile, "Your friends would not wish to think you an unworthy host of conversation." Gesturing with his machete forward.

[]][[]]

Ix-Chel looked over the assembled throng of prisoners, all muttering curses at her Jaffa, at the forces she brings, her very divinity.

She sighed softly, swiping her fingers horizontally across the horizon to her First Prime, Sahahni. " **Dispose of them, add their hearts to the pyre**."

Sahani bowed her Crone-Helmeted head, "Your will, my Queen." Before barking orders to the lieutenants, who in turn dispatched their respective troops, knives in hands.

Ix-Chel rose a hand from her throne, forcing the slaves to lift the throne-podium and proceed back into the palace. Some seventy slaves struggled to turn and move forward herself, her two servants and lastly her Jaffa Lord-Marshal. Ix-Chel lifted her golden glass, a young servant quickly tipping a pitcher of dark violet wine into the goblet. As she raised the golden draught to her lips, she swiped her opposing hand forth, the metallic clicking of her Lord Marshal's armored boots ending as he both knelt and bowed to her queen.

She glimpsed to him, and smiled privately at the armor her wore. The black, stone like metallic pointed ears and the sapphire blue eyes of the jackal. One of the gifts given to her, thousands of years passed, by Anubis. She had given a clutch of malleable spawnlings to his domain, before his exile. He replied by giving one of his greatest Jaffa to her.

He, his children and their children have served as her right hand for countless generations. They have been bred and groomed to be something even greater than a First Prime. The fact that they always must be sons to wear the armor amused her boundlessly.

"My Queen?" His voice echoed through his helm.

" **How fares my planet, Hijin**?"

"The Jaffa are dedicated to their false god, even in death. They have denied subjugation from the forces we have sent."

Ix-Chel tapped a finger nail on her gaublet. " **Then they will die and be eternally tormented**." She whispered, " **How does one define the difference between defeat and victory**?"

The Jackal headed Jaffa lowered his helm's neck further, "My Queen, I would not impose an answer that would insult your greatness."

" **But nevertheless; you know the answer**?"

He hesitated for a second before he continued as if he were reading it straight off a scroll. "Victory is of whom stands atop. Defeat, of what or who the victor stands atop of."

" **If we leave that world be, the world of a stargate, we would retreat, having let them claim more of my Jaffa then us of theirs. They would have been the victor**." She placed the cup on her arm rest, the slaves taking her throne a slightly elevated path that will lead to the palace's main room. " **We make ourselves victorious no matter the cost**." Standing up, the light of dusk glowing her umbra black hair and sandy skin. Her robes highlighting her generous cleavage, and long legs. Eyes glowed briefly as she looked upon this system's capital world, a vast network of housings, forges and barracks, close to the palace, with hobbles and stone huts for the slaves beyond them, and in the distance; vast caverns like holes in the earth, constructing Hat'Taks at a slow but purposeful pace.

" **Take my Grand Army. Lead them to the victory atop the rabble dead**." Glancing to her Lord Marshal.

[][[[]

Two days later

"We CANNOT unbury this... thing!" Figa yelled, "This entire excursion has been a waste of bloody time!" Swiping another maggot-nat off her arm.

They found the construct, buried in many layers of dirt, soil, minerals and, what seems to be, a radioactive material that would deny a ring-teleporter enough that it could not penetrate.

Hassir was quiet, but raged internally as she relooked at the sensor, the orb's display showing what an obstacle they could not pass. She sighed and asked aloud enough that others could hear, "Where is the bastard?" She squinted further as she also noticed the absence of other, "Baxtza? Kanyto? Brishin?"

[][[[]

Baxtza lifted her armor over her head and slid her head and the neck hole, buckling straps to her.

"I must say; you have an awful amount of energy for one who has walked many miles." Fenrir chuckled as he also re-donned clothing, "It is quite a... entertaining quality."

Baxtza did comment, not even moving a muscle on her face at him.

"My dear, why did you initiate this session when we are so close to the goal?" Fenrir asked, curiosity masking the scent of suspicion.

"Why do you complain?" Silence broken.

"Not complain." He said, "Merely cautious. Prefer such exercise AFTER the goal is met." He padded his clothing down, but stopped when his hand reached a curious bulb, no bigger than a finger section, tied to his belt. He ripped it out, the small, golden globe had a single blinking pin prick of red light. "What miracle is this?" He asked aloud.

As soon as Baxtza's eyes fell on what he had in hand, her eyes grew to the size of dining plates and she yelled, "Destroy it! Crush it! It is a tracker!"

He quickly did so, being met with a pop, dropping the fragments onto the ground.

Kanyto, after several seconds, emerged from the tree line that circled the clearing that he and Baxtza had had sex within, accompanied immediately by Brishin, "We lost you two. Why did you leave?"

Baxtza immediately walked towards Kanyto, "'Little sister', we have been tracked." Pointing to the pile of debris at Fenrir's feet. "This device has been found upon him! In his clothing! They were once Kim'ra's and I prepared them for a man's form and would have noticed it!"

Kanyto squinted at her half sibling, "You accuse me?! Why would I betray us?! You know what my lineage would demand of others if Ix-Chel's soldiers capture me!"

Brishin blew a raspberry, "It could have been you two." She pointed briefly at Fenrir with her staff, "Especially you. You came out of the Chappa'ai. Ix-Chel could have sent him with the device from another stargate. He could have led us to a kill zone!"

"I serve none other than myself, you sow!" Fenrir growled, "You would accuse me? Knowing I can kill you all here without sharing a shard of what I have offered!"

Brishin laughed at what he said, "You? Oh of course!" She added sarcastically. Then she gestured to Baxtza, "Then there is you. The denied child. You would have pleasure in seeing Hassir dead and you and your children elevated in the Crone's dominion."

Fenrir immediately asked, looking in shock at Baxtza, "You have children?"

"I would enjoy her dead, yes." Baxtza explained, ignoring Fenrir's shock, "But I would sooner die myself then risk the future of my children under the yoke of the Crone."

A tense moment filled the clearing. Kanyto, unwilling to raise a weapon to Baxtza but the later more than happy to do the same to her. Brishin, a tone of both ease and humor did not dampen the accusation of Fenrir being a spy, the later damned willing to break their covenant and kill them out of spite and frustration, his telepathic abilities unable to pry secrets loose.

"KREE! Something emerges from the ground!" They heard Figa scream half a mile away. They all kept weary, suspicious eyes at one another as they made way for the emerging artefact.

[][[[]

"What is this? Hm?!" Hassir demanded, pointing to the dirty, metal heptagon column that sprouted from the ground. It was nearly five feet tall, with a flat, sloped top and had seven sides, the sloping side having the most uneven. It had a pile of dirt on it, shouting like a root and breaching the earth.

Fenrir grinned from ear to ear, "I was curious of how long it would take to send the probe." Walking to it and swiping clear the dirt on the top, revealed a handprint like indent on it. Pressing his own upon its surface, a blade like edge popped up from the side, with the print disappearing into a hole or opening.

Hassir was near inquiring again, but stopped when Fenrir pressed his wrist against the blade and dragged it horizontally across it, the blood falling into the new opening which closed snap when it reached its desired weight of life fluid and fell back into the breach from whence it came.

"What was the meaning of that? Tell me!" Hassir marched up to Fenrir, holding her staff like she was going to attack him with the club, "Or I will bash the answer from your lips."

"Your threats are unnecessary, my dear." Fenrir eyed her slyly with a smirk, "I was merely distracted. This keyed in that one of the Blackheart is both alive and wanting to summon its creation. More so now, because I am the clan that had created it."

Not a beat after his explanation ended, did a pyramidal shaped mass, the length of a tall man break through the surface. It was the color of iron, with spots rusting and some oddly sublime. One side of the building, a triangle folded out onto the ground revealing a red, swirling oval of water like energy, not too different from a Chappa'ai.

"I'll go first and make sure that the defenses are down." He smiled as he began his stride towards the portal, but was stopped when Hassir grabbed his shoulder.

She stared into his eyes, "I would accompany you." He knew full well what she meant, 'I will see that you are not going to shoot us in the back, and kill you before you do.'

Fenrir nodded, "As you wish." Proceeding into the swirling crimson, and teleporting to the depths below their feet.

[][[[[

Fenrir chuckled as Hassir sputtered from the overwhelming euphoric confusion from using a Portal at first. "Focus on your hands. I was told that it helps."

Hassir's wandering aimless eyes tried to track the manipulators at the ends of her arms, mouth drooling from being overstimulated and overwhelmed. The dizzying sensation began to fade, her senses returning.

Fenrir did not wait for the veteran Jaffa to recover, proceeding into the dim hall, his eyes quickly adjusting. The walls, a once sleek copper, now dusted and aged, leading him further into the long abandoned crypt.

When he met the first door, he hesitated, looking around for any marking of defense screens or sentries. If there was a chance that a Clansman managed to gain access to the crypt, they could have obscured the defense systems to attack all, regardless if access was given to deprive any rivals of its resources.

He saw no evidence of a hostile defense, and slowly pushed the doors open, revealing a large workshop, with the dim glowglobes beginning to lighten the room, albeit barely.

All manner of glorious tools and mechanisms were placed along tables, the sides of walls, or hung from the ceiling. But most important of all was what lay at the center. A sarcophagus of what he believe to be the man or woman who owned this workshop made mausoleum, had upon his tomb an Energon Module, as large as a well-built man's torso and held a promise as great as its size. It was powering the installation, and can spark anew a fire long dormant.

Fenrir looked to the right and saw an Armorer's Alcove and smiled deviously at its prospects. He quickly pressed his back to its opening, flipping him into its confines, where a deep voice asked him in Gjin-Ai, the tongue of the clans, "By what armor would you be clad and what weapon would you bear?"

[][[[[]

As Hassir unsteadily rose to her feet, leaning at first with her staff then gaining way to the wall and following it down.

Se cursed, seeing a door open wide and slowly brought herself through the doors. What she was met with was a cavern of alien devices, all separated into seven different corners, centered on a smooth, almost cocoon like object in the middle, a giant green-blue crystal jutting out of its center that swam with various colors like an endlessly moving liquid in a still case.

She slowly approached it, feeling it draw her in like a light to a moth and as she reached out to touch it, she yelled out in pain as an invisible hand grabbed her wrist and squeezed. She cursed, thinking that the pressure would render the hand useless and as she looked around, spotted nothing of the grabber's owner.

"Let me make this abundantly clear to you, Jaffa." Fenrir's voice boomed, voice amplified by his armor. "I will remove the Goa'uld from power. They will die by my hands." She felt herself being lifted from the ground, and she came face to face with a pair of angrily angled, ruby like eyes and a plain bronze face with no features. "Will you join me? Will you follow me into fire? Into oblivion? To kill your gods?"

She struggled, "I... uh!" She grabbed his arm as it de-cloaked, orange taloned digits leading up to armored plates and bare left shoulder and chest, but his right was fully armored. "I will not let my people be run astray or threatened by something like you!"

He leant his armored face towards hers, "I have yet to tell my plans for your people." Before she could respond, he ripped the armor from her belly, her Sybiote's womb exposed and pries his fingers into it, making her scream. As his talons dug and finally wrapped around the Prim'Ta, he partially pulled it out. "I would not seek this for your kind! Who are so much like my own! I have one plan for your kind." He boomed as he leant his face past hers and whispered to her ear, "Elevation. The Jaffa exceeding and expelling their former masters."

Hassir's eyes opened further as he removed his hand from her Prim'Ta and released her to the floor, "But if only you would follow me, and help me make a dominion the universe has not yet seen! One of strength, wisdom, discipline and honor! All of which has been deprived of your kind for too long!" He pointed at the fallen elder, "Your shackles freed! You and all of your kin!" He then held his hand in front of her, palm up and fingers out in welcoming help, "To be a people, by my hands and lead, greater then all else that has come before." He explained in short of whisper.

Hassir looked between her Prim'Ta, receding back into its womb and the hand in front of her. She knew it would soon need to leave, to take a human host, then she must do it again, and again until she was too old for another.

She stared at the taloned hand then to the man who owned it.

His armor was of a dark bronze, its texture almost like it was hammered in the forge, but plates knelt seamlessly together, not made from any primitive hand with no sense of aesthetics. His face, featureless and haunting with those deep red gems for angry eyes, helmeted and neck plated. It all spoke of truth in a sense, it was all made to kill, to intimidate, and to be thrust into fire and blood.

She and all Jaffa were no different than the armor he wore. They all were made to protect the Goa'uld, to nurture them, to kill for them.

We... are not tools. We are Jaffa.

Hassir grasped the hand by its wrist.

[][[[[]

Friga shook her scanner-orb and scoffed, "That... cannot be right."

Baxtza moved to her side and looked upon the image. She saw the eight or so dots that represented their party and around them and moving in fast were what looked firing lines. Numbers moving in perfect unison towards their position. Then more beyond them.

Baxtza yelled out, "Jaffa! Kree!"

Then the Portal to her rear lit to life and out strode Hassir and another. She quickly pointed her Staff at the stranger and demanded, "Who is this?!"

The being chuckled, scanning the horizon. Unbeknownst to her, his scanning equipment was detecting movement in the forest and tracking it on his heads up display. "Remind me, after I kill all these people..." He reached behind his back, pulling out a small staff that extended into a polearm, the tip, flexing metal into an axe which heated to a point that it glow a warm red. "To ask about your children." Fenrir held the Particle Halberd in hand as the enemy approach and opened fire.

[][]{[[[

This chapter was hell to write haha

Anyways, I got a cover artist, made an amazing picture on deviantArt called Seth's Guard by Unded. Look in my profile and it will have a link to his site! He's got some awesome stuff!


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Fenrir's Particle Halberd cleaved into the shoulder of a Jaffa warrior as she cleared a tree with two of her mates.

As the Halberd managed to clear through her torso, he swung the point towards one of her comrades and fired the Particle Lance, the subatomic expulsion spreading wide that it shredded the victim and nearby foliage to pieces, however, the last managed a shot from her Va'Tok, the plasma blast stopping short of its target, disappearing into the wearer's energy shield.

Fenrir reached his talons out and sunk them into her neck, throwing her to the ground as his dagger like digits dug into flesh and tissue. The battle was joined as his 'friendly' Jaffa attacked the hostiles, who were confident that they could repel the enemy, the forest too thick and wide for an artillery Rol'Na to be of use.

The Clansman was having too much fun with the battle, rushing into fire he should be taking cover from, joining in close quarters with his halberd when he should have stayed away and blown them away with the particle cannon.

He was a like a child playing war, but his toys were real and absolutely terrified from his bloodlust.

As he swung the halberd in a wide arc, decapitating another hapless victim, the group pf Jaffa rebels quickly formed into a tight firing line, bombarding covered enemies, their conjoined fire toppling trees and turning stones to dust.

As Hassir ordered another target to be concentrated on, Figa was shot in her back, the armor only partially covering the blast, the rest searing into back. Hassir ran to her side, eyes dulled and closed as she sagged to her side and died. She quickly ordered them to find better covering and to watch their flanks.

'This feeling!' Fenrir thought as he struck down another enemy, 'This is...!' And another, 'Completion!' He mentally queued for the Apex Armor to activate the voice-magnifier, "Come and get me you worm sucking slatterns! Come and see if you can slay me!" Pounding on his chest with a fist, blood splattering off from the impacts.

That got a great deal of attention, with the Crone-Helmed Jaffa ordering their lessers to fire on him.

The plasma blasts hit on occasion, the energy shield absorbing the shot with only minimal kinetic impact displacing his footing as he charged forward. As he again bathed in the blood and of the enemy's bile, he yelled out in Gjin-Ai, "I will be thinking of your deaths when I am fucking a woman tonight!"

[][[[]

" **What in the name of Ix-Chel is happening**?!" Lord Raisa demanded as she saw several of her Headhunters retreat, missing limbs or screaming in terror, piles of her warriors dead as she ran closer to the battle. " **KREE JAFFA! OR BE ETERNALLY DAMNED FOR YOUR COWARDICE**!"

Fenrir detected the Goa'uld out of his telepathic peripheral, noting the darker impulses and thicker thought, almost as if she had been thinking with more mind then just her own. He smiled and quickly began bulldozing through all enemies that lay between him and this false god.

The Goa'uld back away a step as she saw the dervish of mayhem approach her, taking a staff from one of her attendants and firing. The blast did nothing to deter him as he clears their distance and she cursed the longer recharge of a Va'Tok compared to their more common Ma'Tok cousins. As she swung the club, she was surprised when he caught it, broke the club end off and kicked her nearly four meters back.

She grasped her chest, feeling the man's foot print on her lungs as she struggled for breath, quickly recovering and standing up, activating her kara'kesh's shield emitter.

" **You will find this field beyond your strength, impudent cur**." She panted.

"Cur? I am insulted by your lack of slander. A child could do better." The helmet split in two down the middle and began folding in on its self into the armor's shoulder, revealing its wearer. "I would prefer..." He lifted his halberd and fired it at the Goa'uld. The shield was showered in a cone of particles, but held firm, making the false god grin. "Bastard." He tittered. "Going to make me get my hands dirty? Too bad I enjoy it." He walked to the possessed human and slipped his clawed grasp through the shield and clutched the neck of the screaming parasite.

[][[[]

"Btahm! Get us out of here! Break stealth and get here with a god's speed!" Baxtza ordered, pressing the integrated com device in her mask's 'cheek'. As soon as she released pressure to hear her response, she was shoved over by Hassir.

He glared at her, "Focus on killing the enemy, not showing your back to them!" Before shooting her staff and claiming the life of another attacker.

" **Enough**!" A Goa'uld voice yelled out, " **Forces of Ix-Chel fall back! Headhunters regroup at Iruni**!"

The party looked upon Fenrir, closing in, in hand; holding up the crippled Goa'uld lord by her neck, legs covered in blood.

The Headhunters looked to one another in confusion, ceasing their attack.

Fenrir grinned maliciously, sinking his ring-finger into the base of her neck, threatening to spear the Goa'uld in its host's very cranium! " **NOW**!" She bellowed, " **One of your gods commands it**!"

The Headhunters began a hesitant withdrawal, some taking with them the Prim'Ta of their fallen comrades as they did so, all keeping their weapons aimed and ready at the rebels as they steadily receded back into the foliage.

Fenrir purred into his new prisoner's ear, "Good, very good." Removing a bloody talon from her neck. Still holding her up, he walked to his entourage, threw the crippled deity to the ground in front of them. He held his arms out and bowed, "You all are so very welcome. And for the next act!" He kicked the Goa'uld in the gut as he crossed her to his forces. "How do we kill the little wretch? Is a long and lovely torture involved? Should I leave you love birds be?"

[][[[[]

"How many have been coming through the Chappa'ai?" Hassir asked the pilot.

"Nearly as many as have arriving from orbit. There have been hundreds of Crone-Guard, about as Rol'Na armor vehicles, all three main variants seems." Btahm stated.

 _Hundreds_ of Crone-Guards? Hassir stared at the Tel'Tak's hull under her feet. 'This means only one thing;" Hassir spoke aloud, "Ix-Chel's main force, the Grand Army, is making way to our world." She said aloud to her cabal. She said nothing further as she proceeded to the rear of the vessel to Figa, the latest casualty. Instantly her eyes were inflamed with fury as he saw Fenrir tilting her body over to inspect the scorching hole in her soldier's remains.

She was beset on him faster than one could have blinked, shoving the armored warrior like a nudge. "What are you doing!?"

Fenrir stared down at the woman, and both stated and asked, "Trust me. How long has she been dead?" A warrior near explain it was less than an hour, and he nodded at the cadaver. His armor began folding and receding back into smaller blocks on the gauntlets of his arms and a chest piece that covered both his front and his back in a bronzed shell. He lifted his left gauntlet up, pressing a series of symbols along a control panel under his arm. Along the side, a gill-fan like device opened up, sprouting three dark blue cubes that hissed and steamed in heat. He took one of the blocks, knelt by Figa's body, carved a small section of burnt flesh open, blood spilling forth coldly from the wound and slid the cube, maybe smaller then one's smaller finger, into the cut.

The two remaining blocks receded back into the gauntlet, with a prod sticking out of the same section on the gauntlet, placing the very tip of it into the wound, the sliced flesh searing close as he removed it. He smiled as he sat her up against the wall.

As Hassir was going to voice her disgust, Figa opened her eyes and let loose a shuttering breath, her arms flailing wildly, her eyes wide in shock, panic and indescribable pain which only her inborn Jaffa resistance kept her mind mildly coherent "What, what!?" She barely withheld a yell, nearby warriors coming to their formally dead comrade's side in a mix of concern and joyous surprise. "What is happening!?"

"Fight through the pain, my dear. It will see your injuries cured." Fenrir stood back up and left the writhing Jaffa in the company of her companions.

Hassir stared at his back as he entered the control room, sitting next to Btahm in the adjacent seat. Then looking back to Figa, surrounded by comrades and friends, contemplating the events of the past week. 'He has captured the Lord of Headhunters, maybe amongst the deadliest of Goa'uld on this side past the Great Nebula Storms, accessed a long forgotten and dormant facility, and most recently, denied death itself to one of her warriors as if she were healed in a sarcophagus.' She pondered, 'Would the miracles not end if I swore myself to follow him?'

[][]]]][

"That is quite the powerful suit of armor you have; I've never seen a shield system active while its wearer was mobile." Btahm nodded to Fenrir, keeping a hand on the control-sphere.

"I can vouch, however, I can do much more to impress _out_ of the armor." Fenrir smiled at her and rose his eyebrows suggestively.

Btahm chuckled, "I'm sure, but what you'd have in mind would not have much in the way of appeal to myself."

"Style?"

"Function. Prefer the opposite." Btahm waved a hand.

Fenrir guffled, rubbing the back of his hand and smiling awkwardly, "Surprising. I didn't think I _could_ be embarrassed. My apologies, if I had known…"

She shrugged, "I do not exactly have a tattoo on my forehead that says 'I enjoy women how most prefer men'. In hindsight, I probably would have regretted getting it." She smiled, "Flattered from the flirtation, as useless as it was. Did Hassir give way to head to the next location or have you come here only to try and seduce me?"

Fenrir, feeling odd on the defensive, he shrugged, "Was planning on lounging with throwing prospects of that second possibility at you. I am waiting on the little group to finally get sick of Figa's awakening so we may go on with the mission."

Her eyes widened in shock, "She's awake? I thought she was dead."

Fenrir chuckled, "I guess she got better then?"

[][]]]][

"Alright, so…" Baxtza asked aloud at the plan, drawn in the dirt at her feet of the cabal's senior members, "we take that…" pointing with a thumb towards the odd, teal-green crystal they retrieved alongside Fenrir's armaments (which she found odd that Hassir did not try to disarm), "put it in this machine and then what? It will be impossible to go in the area undetected, much less leave with our prize alive."

"Your powers of observation serve you well, my lovely creature…" He nodded, "But you mistake the method of departure. We will not leave with it, it will leave with us."

Figa, still mildly delirious, managed to ask the question that was atop all of their lips, "What the hell do you mean?"

"This machine, this glorious creation of mind, if it has survived, will not be a mere weapon." He crossed his arms and proudly stated, "She is Ha'Gael, the Third-Born World Ship of the Clan Star Wolf. She was a hub of my old Hierarchy." He grinned, "And she will be the first and greatest of my new one. Hassir?" He gestured to their leader and mentor, "If you would please?"

They looked onto Hassir, perplexed, their elder standing up straighter as she spoke. "This Hierarchy that Fenrir has spoken of may be the way to free all Jaffa from the yoke of Goa'uld slavery." She briefly looked to the ground, "I have sworn myself to reforming this government, as he has promised to assist in both our liberation in both a political and…" Gesturing to her Symbiote pouch, "a physical sense. In exchange, all Jaffa that would serve will have voice and ability in this new domain, to both serve and seek our own paths."

"She also threatened me with a quick and terrible vengeance if I did not keep my word to the letter, so…" He smiled and lifting his hands up and jovially added, "I'll keep it. I doubt even death would prevent this woman from somehow wracking her vengeance upon me."

Kanyto quickly paced to her master's side and bowed, "As I have also sworn."

"Just nowhere near as threatening…" Fenrir spoke to himself.

There was a brief garble in the cabal, but oddly, Baxtza broke it when she demanded, "And what would separate our servitude to you and the Goa'ulds?"

"I abhor slavery. I was once in such a service." He spat at her, "I never denoted myself as a god neither. You of all would know I am not above flesh and blood." He smirked as she quietly squirmed, his empathy managing to pick out the silent fear the he would out their previous… activities to the cabal.

"But why? Brishin commented, "Why not just go away? Out of Goa'uld space and control some backwater humans out of these territories?"

Fenrir scoffed and chuckled, "Two reasons: one, too easy. Second, this area of space is mine." Looking at the woman in the eyes, "Never the Goa'uld's. This is not a conquest; this is vermin extermination."

Hassir nodded, "You would see our dependence on the Prim'Ta removed? The Goa'uld dead?"

He smiled grimly to her, "Every last one." Before looking to the prisoner, "May as well start with this one, as soon as I pry information from her."

Hassir sighed, "It would be pointless." She continued with, "My previous master had attempted to torture past traitorous Goa'uld, only with her to waste her efforts on the host or the Goa'uld killing both themselves and the host."

Fenrir thought on this for a moment, before stating, "I will find a way."

[][][[[[[]

On board the Tel'Tak, the former leader of the Headhunters sat against the hull, tied with ropes made from rubber and native vines, brooding. Her injuries have been long since repaired, she watched uneasily as the man that captured her entered the landed vessel and closed the door behind him.

She roared, " **Cur! I am a god! Know if you harm me further, great cal-**!"

"Shut it!" Fenrir spoke in English, before returning to Summa'Goa, "You will speak only when I tell you, do not, I will kill you. Simple enough, silly serpent?"

When the former Lord attempted to open her mouth in defiance, she was shocked when her jaw locked up and her wind pipe constrained, making breathing a struggle. Fenrir held up a finger, "Not that the warning will have much weight, as I can silence you on a whim without physically touching you. So…." He lowered the finger, the Goa'uld panted, her mouth opening and wind returning. He knelt down to the face the host, musing as he asked, "So do you chose the prettiest women for hosts or just chose them at random? I more than likely would take my eyes off of you if I were to follow you to combat. Then again, all your warriors are women. Unless theyre like Btahm. Anyways! Ix-Chel, her forces on the second continent. Information."

He was surirpised when the Goa'uld's voice changed to a normal woman's, "Please my lord! Let me go! Do not harm me!"

Fenrir was momentarily offset by this, focusing his telepathy and gave a breath through his nose, "So you can _choose_ whether you sound like you would be amazing playing a bass in opera? Interesting."

"No! This is me! Denta! The Host of Reisa! You've struck enough fear that I managed to subdue her!"

"Oh if only you I could trust you…" Fenrir smiled internally, noting the surface thoughts of the Goa'uld still in control.

"Allow me to offer a prize! Would you accept a kiss? As gratitude for my salvation?"

'Ugh, this is too easy to play. These aliens must be more simple then scurrying rodents.' He thought, but he faux grin and said, "Of course…" He leant his face down to her face, and as his lips met hers, she opened her mouth widely, the Goa'uld shooting out from the back of her throat!

But it could not move forth past his lips, no matter how it tried, its fins were locked in place and could not move forward, instead, Fenrir moved his head back, grabbed the Goa'uld parasite, now emerged from its Host in the hopes that it had the possibility to claim a superior one.

The serpent-fish shrieked its shock at the native air, "Now that I can speak to you face to face…" He focused his telepathic abilities to tunnel past its surface mind, queuing questions into its sub-conscious that would eventually surface into its waking one, like seeding questions in the unknown dirt beneath, where it flowers to the surface thought, all unbeknownst to the victim. What displeased him of this was the time it took.

He admits, he is a poor interrogator.

[][][]]]]]

Fenrir, after sometime, walked out of the Tel'Tak, in the dead of night. In hand, he held the dying Sybiote, growing weak from naked exposure. Some moments after, the cabal had gathered, shocked that he had the true beast in hand. "My allies, tonight… the slaying of the false divine begin." He held his hand out to the Tel'Tak, the former host of the Symbiote looked weak as she walked down and grabbed his hand in stability. "Tonight, we shall begin something more than repelling your enemy, Ix-Chel. We shall find the Goa'uld, in their temples, in their homes and armies, and cut them down til none live, so that all Jaffa, all slaves, may have a place free from their lash and leash to thrive!"

The human, unsteady and weary, fearfully hid behind Fenrir as she looked on the small crowd of Jaffa, whose gaze bore both into her and the worm in equal measure. "Kanyto! Come forth!"

The young warrior hesitated uncertainly, before separating herself from her rebel brethren and walked to her new leader and liberator. Fenrir let go of the former serpent host behind him, and presented the limp though still moving and alive Goa'uld to her, "As you are the first to swear to me your allegiance…" He ripped the Goa'uld in two, shocking the audience, "I will make you a warrior that your former gods will fear." Smearing the ends over her mask, cheek and armor, painting them blue, "I will name you my Godkiller." He then placed a bloody hand on her shoulder. "Will you accept? For yourself and all Jaffa? That you would see your and their strife under the heel of false gods' end?"

She planted her Va'Tok in the ground, and slammed her fist to her chest, bowing her head, "I accept with relish… my lord!"

Fenrir gave a belly laugh and embraced the saluting Jaffa, shocking her, and many among the cabal cheered.

Hassir walked out of the crowd and gestured to the human behind him, "What do we do about her?"

Denta hesitantly said, "F-Fenrir said I may leave to a place of my choice if I share any information I have of the gods."

"Shall we set forth then?! Begin the march to freedom?! To find the new horizons that are held aboard Ha'Gael?! To arm and armor you with weapons beyond the abilities or comprehension of these foul, scuttling worms!?"

The cheers were the only answer he needed. He knew that the loyalty he had begun to forge here, will spread as they tell word of his accomplishments. As much as despots would like to believe, technology and materials are not the foundation which would hold your empire to the stars, only the boundless will of the people they must lead.

He will teach this lesson to the Goa'uld soon enough when he begins to snatch away and use their most vital of warriors against them.

[][]]]]]


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

"Lord Marshal," A Jaffa Secunde bowed her head towards the Jackal Master, "We have deployed along the clearing, Rol'Nas have been modified to your specifications, the columns are prepared to cover their flanks, and we have word that Bah'Gui's Mothership will be providing Death Glider Squadrons at your call."

Marshal nodded within his helm, quietly meditating, the image of the armored Rol'Na columns, in combination with warrior battalions and skirmishers, all ready to proceed in all directions flowing out from the Chappa'ai. Then another section of the Grand Army will deploy out, encompassing the directions that the first could not.

"Ix-Chel's will be done." He stated, devoid of both emotion and pride.

The Secunde bowed again, "Ix-Chel's will be done." She replied before back stepping several paces and turned, returning her cabal.

The grip on his Va'Tok was audibly strained, his knuckles white, but when he looked up once more, he released his breath, letting the built up emotions he must suppress out. It was always odd seeing out of the eyes of the Jackal Helm, his vision was slightly elevated, but due to the small Thought-Control built into the helm, it compensated his now more top heavy build and the unusual height.

The device couldn't do much outside of modify bits of his perception and to fold at command. It did not have enough power, access nor the faculty to handle any further function.

He felt unusually tempted to retract the armor, let his face feel the dark night's wind, the moon shine. 'No.' He refocused, 'Such needs are beyond the Lord Marshal. I must, at all times of this conquest, be above the indulgences of even small pleasures.'

He offered a secret prayer to the Great Others, shaming himself against the goddess he must serve fully. Though he must do as she commands, something dark clung to his heart as he envisioned killing even more Jaffa. During this conquest and beyond.

He inspected the nearest Rol'Na, the grey, intricate steel shell, thin in its width like a hunting hound's snout, skinny enough to fit in through the Chappa'ai, but it gave it a massive profile in order to fit in the power source, deploy its main weapon and keep a shield in its bay. It was kept just off the ground by a gravity-defiler, like a death-glider but much more grounded. Even from where he stood, he could feel the god-engine sprouting its massive hear outward as it labored to keep the war vehicle afloat.

"JAFFA! KREE!" He pounded his chest, "Bring honor to your house, your family and your Goddess in the conquest! Show no quarter to these useless Hasshak-ap!"

As soon as his order was declared, the Rol'Na began their burn-staff cannons, the energy pulse turning into a low frequency, nearly invisible wave of thermal energy, beginning to burn down the jungle around the Chappai'ai.

The enemy will be brought to heel, and when he managed to corner the last, he will...

He growled lowly at himself, cursing the Goa'uld that when they made the Jaffa that they could not have removed their souls as they did so.

[][[[[[{

"We will not be able to go far as is." The regretful pilot sighed, leaning back in her seat as she pointed with her hand to the hovering mothership, nearly two miles off the ground, "Our goal is right near... here." The map overlaid briefly with the landscape, highlighting in red the primary area they need to move to.

"Right atop the main camp." Hassir rubbed her chin, attempting to think of ways to sneak in or avoid them entirely.

Fenrir walked to the display, smiling, "Perfect." He pointed to a small clearing some distance away, "I will land you all here. You will head to the main camp as i provide you all with a distraction to infiltrate the area."

Baxtza raised an eyebrow, "What exactly will you be doing?"

"Honestly? I'm not sure." He grinned giddily, "But I'm certain you will know when the ruse is afoot."

Kanyto, still covered in the blue baptism of her new rank, hesitantly added, "Why risk yourself? Alone? I would gladly accompany you!"

"Another day." He looked to his follower proudly, placing a hand on her shoulder before leaving for the back, to the new companion.

"Denta?" He asked quietly, disturbing her rest in the hold. "Apologies for waking you, but we are going to leave very soon and you must be able to keep up with these Jaffa if you want to live."

She yawned, pushing herself off the floor, "But you wish something else of me?"

He nodded, kneeling, "I will have need of information of the Goa'uld main camp. Any vitals I can strike in order to give my people enough time to summon the Prism that will take you all to the ship and leave this world."

She nodded, "Everything about her... the Serpent. Fuzzy. Hard to remember."

"Try." He nodded, trying to prod her to make an effort, if gently. "But i also must ask another favor."

She inclined her head to the side.

"Keep an eye on the Jaffa known as Baxtza." He sighed, "I fear she is a traitor."

}[][[[[[]

Baxtza hefted the Energon Crystal on her shoulder as she and the cabal departed from the Tel'Tak that has faithfully served them all for months on this campaign. She was actually a bit sad, they didn't even give the vehicle a proper title.

"What are their names?" She heard Fenrir ask, behind her, still some distance away on the Tel'Tak.

She thought of them for a moment, before answering, "B'ari and Sa'Tza." She stated. "Oldest and youngest. Both girls. B'ari has yet to receive her first Prim'Ta."

Fenrir turned his head slightly, "Where are they?"

"The third metropolis from the capital. I have some friends that had favors and have been hiding them." She bit her lip, keeping herself in control.

Fenrir waited a moment before he said, "I'll help you see them again."

There was a quiet flutter in her heart that quickly turned to pain as she imagined embracing her daughters again, taking them back to Hijin. A village far from war. Safe. "I will see them regardless of your help." And marched forward with her load.

Fenrir sighed, turning towards the front of the ship and quickly lifted it from its landing and activated the cloak. Not that it will need it for long, he wretched the vehicle to the side of the massive camp that held the makeshift temple.

He smiled as he brought the Tel'Tak to a higher speed, disrupting the its cloak but it was too late for detection, he opened the hold's door, jumped out of the vessel, deployed his armor and as he landed, he saw the Goa'uld cargo-shuttle crash, a great plume of fire and dirt.

[][[[]

"Guess that is our signal. Let's move!" Hassir yelled out, the cabal sprinting in a semi-formatted fashion, those of the worst aim being at the front, the second line being the best and protecting the center which held three, the leader, Hassir, Baxtza with her item, and the non-defendable human Denta.

Kanyto was keeping the rear clear, with three others, making sure they would not become flanked, eyes darting about looking for the smallest signs of movement before running back to the rear guard of the cabal.

[][[[]

"-Bold-Find the attackers! Send them to the Underworld!" A Warrior Lord ordered, the Crone-Guard in her company quickly rushing forward to join their troops in the defense.

A runner, a human priestess, quickly dropped to her hands in knees in both deference to one of her gods and fatigue. "My god! There is a demon at the Temple!" She looked up, blood not her own covered face caked with fearful tears, "I-it killed the gods there! What it has done to them-!"

"Will pale from what I will do to you if you do not get out of my way!" Bashing the sniveling human aside with her Va'Tak's club. "Jaffa! Forward!"

While the temple was fairly useless in terms of function, but it served in the indoctrination of new Jaffa who swear themselves to their new Goddess and of the Jaffa already in service, making their belief in their patron deity all the stronger as they claimed more worlds and killed those that defied them.

While Goa'uld are far from squeamish when it comes to brutality, what she and her Jaffa saw did make them stare, shocked for several moments to process exactly what they were seeing.

The temple was afire, the Tel'Tak carving through the stone building opening it to the night sky. Its denizens, a mix of Jaffa holy assistants, human priests and priestesses and finally the three Goa'uld. The humans lain killed where they stood, the Jaffa corpses, cut limbs, heads, all were gathered at the bases of three crude spears, holding them up with their weight. On the three spears, the impaled hosts, and on their tips, the curled, desiccated remains of the Goa'uld themselves.

"Damnation..." A Jaffa Secunde gasped, "How did this aberration be constructed in such short time? We were just attacked..."

"Spread forth!" The lord commanded, "Find the one responsible!"

The Jaffa were all massively unnerved as they began to comb the area for tracks, the Goa'uld warrior leader at the center, keeping a careful eye out for cowardice to uproot.

The Goa'uld's eyes snapped forward as she heard a Jaffa yell out and then suddenly silence, "Jaffa! Kree!" Throwing her hand forward in order.

"My lord, I recommend we fall back, there is no telling if this is the only-" The Secunde was cut off when another scream, followed by a set of them, volleys of staff blasts exploding.

The Jaffa rushed to the attacker, but the screams and blasts only increased.

Until there was only silence.

"My lord, we must get you to safety." The Secunde pointed her staff at the opening many poured through to the attacker.

As the Goa'uld stepped back, the Secunde was quickly picked up from where she stood, flying into the air and over the ruin as if some invisible force literally plucked from where she was standing and threw her like an ant.

The Goa'uld stood in shock, unwilling to take another step in fear.

"Seems to me..." A voice said from all around the Goa'uld, "The only thing your warriors are good at is dying. Let us see if you were trained as adequately."

The lord took the staff and started firing wildly in any direction that looked odd to her.

Until she hit something other than stone or air.

The cloaking device crackled around his form, orange lightning crackled against his armor, the invisibility effect quickly losing its potency, the bronze warrior, covered in blood, now fully visible.

Fenrir ran a hand over the scorch mark on his upper left shoulder, surprised that the armor was even damaged, "Apex armor was always meant for lighter duty. Not that of a man's." The talons quickly clicked into place as he mentally queued for the shield to activate. "I owe you a painful death, little worm."

As he ran forward, the god kept shooting its staff, the hits not even phasing him as he sunk the talons into the bottom of her neck, cracked the spine under his fingers, and jerked upwards, literally ripping the Goa'uld's head off, the serpent, dead, still half in the body.

He gripped the severed head by its hair, jumping up to the ruin's top and roared in Gjin-Ai as he held the head aloft, "I'm the king of this planet!"

To the approaching mass of

[][[[]

Kanyto pulled out the vial of blood her lord had given her when the Prism arrived on the surface, with Hassir holding a sigil from Fenrir's armor, which he said would serve as a replacement for his presence.

Hassir slapped the seal onto the top of the small pillar, when it opened, Kanyto opened the vial and poured its contents.

Several moments after, the Pylon shot up from the ground, the red-stargate like portal coming to life.

"Go! We will cover the portal for Fenrir!" Kanyto said, placing a hand on Figa's shoulder. "You mentioned disorientation from progressing through the machine, Hassir, you must lead the others."

"They can lead themselves." They heard a man say, following by severed head being thrown at their feet, "They are Jaffa, they will undoubtedly be strong enough to resist effects as she has." Fenrir walked out from the shadows, cloaking device deactivating, showing pits, dents and severe burns all over the armor.

Hassir nodded, "My lord, what of the camp's forces?"

"I gave them a test. They were proved lacking. I left several survivors who witnessed my invisibility, and all of my attacks will be centered on the Goa'uld on that side of the camp. Hopefully, that will keep them chasing shadows long enough to get Ha'Gael into the void." He explained, walking through the portal.

[][[[]

"What in the name of the gods...?" Btahm asked with a gasp, the magnetically powered lift bringing down the cabal, the massive elevator being large enough to hold what she thought to a be thousand more. But it could not hold her awe as she looked through a viewing port to the vast underground cavern and what it held: it did not hold something the size of the capital city, it was even bigger then that!

It must have been at least two dozen kilometers across, at least, In both length and width! It could hold millions more then the million that lived in the capital.

As they descended, glow globs activated, slowly revealing the vessel beneath them.

It was of a dark, golden copper, with three 'arms' all in separate directions, equally distant apart and ending with a circular 'pad' that held massive, sky scraping like structures, all three centered around a massive central pad that held even more infrastructure then all the other three combined.

A shell like armor encompassed the outer edges of the mammoth vessel, more of a grey iron that contrasted with the rest of the hull, several weapons batteries raised along their sides on turrets.

"Behold; Ha'Gael."

[][[[{

Dreams.

An odd amalgamation of memories, possibility, hopes, fears and desires, all wrapped in madness.

The awakening was everything but gentle, the Energon Matrix, dormant and starved of power, suddenly felt a rush of vitality, making all of her organs, muscles and bones, all clenched and reflexed, causing a gasp of pain.

Ha'Gael's senses spun from her forced awakening, her ability to focus on what caused her quickening.

"Ha'Gael, dear, you really need to wake up."

She opened one of her eyes towards the voice.

[][[[

The Automata Servicer's head looked up from its alcove, "Father...?"

Fenrir smiled, looking to machine with pride before looking about the room, "That's my girl." Patting the wall affectionately.

He turned to the Energon Crystal on its plinth, pacing to the control nearest to it. "I know you are very confused right now, but we need to leave-"

"You left me in this pit you bloody bastard of a creator." The feminine voice dripped with disdain from the Automata.

"Now is not the time, you can expose me to vacuum later, but we BOTH need to get your Jumper ready and leave this world. My access to this area will not remain unnoticed for long. The ship above will track the energy signature of the Pylon to its destination. They will begin bombardment at any moment." He calmly explained, a patience extended to something he treated like an offspring for many years.

The Automata did not respond, its V like visor staring at him.

"Please, Gael." He bowed his head slightly, "There are more lives at stake now then just our own."

The Automata walked out of the alcove with rocky, faulty jerks, the bronze metaled humanoid stood up fully, being his equal in height. The sensor suite hummed, where it then stiffly turned its head and saw the cabal of... humans? Pointing staff weapons at the Automata that she was in direct control of.

She looked back to her maker, a moment passing before it spoke. "Of course they're all female. It's like the Crimson Shore incident all ov-"

"Whoa! Okay! I thought we made a pact NEVER to mention that buried boot! Its old and rotted by now!" Fenrir held up his hands, laughing.

The Automata replied, "I would comply, but my Jumper is not responding. Something is wrong."

Fenrir hissed in displeasure, running a hand through his hair, "Alright, what about Hyperdrive?"

"If we open up a window inside the cavern, the explosive pressure wave would crush me. Especially without the shield."

Fenrir snapped his fingers, "I have it!" He grinned, "Put everything into the shields when you activate the anti-graviton rail!"

[][[[]

"Zi-ast-abilim, je-hrm mja gruu!" Fenrir continued to speak with the machine in their bizarre language.

The machine-man with a woman's voice tilted its head to the side, "Vjom. Mjam gruu zaakam doorai."

Figa leant to the side and asked quietly, "Think that the conversation is going well?"

Brishin chuckled, "They can be trading recipes for flat-cakes for all I know."

Fenrir gave a final, exuberant yell, smiling as he dashed to other side of the room and walked onto the teleporter pad, winking away in a flash, abandoning the cabal in the room. With the Automata still active, where it continued to stare at them.

"Did he just leave us?" Kanyto asked out.

The Automata turned its head to the pad then back to the cabal. "Ka-voon shakro."

A second after, Fenrir reappeared on the pad and yelled out in Summa'Goa, "Follow me if you will!"

[][[[[]

"… there appears to be some kind of structure beneath the camp."

A Secunde explained, her voice in his ear through the communication device in his helm. "How many are in the camp?"

"The army began mobilization when the camp was raided, some one and a half thousand Jaffa are being prepared outside, a remaining rough five hundred still in its vicinity."

"Take the Ha'Tak down and begin bombardment. Bury the rebels and whatever they are hiding." He ordered, voice a bit quieter.

The Jaffa officer hesitated, before she replied, "As you command, Lord Marshal."

[][][[[[][

"She's starved for energy, it's going to take some time to charge the facilities to make the shield, but when it is ready, it can withstand the energies of going to the center of a Red Mass star." Fenrir smiled as entered primary control room of the World-Ship, a massive chamber lined with control panels connected to the various faculties of the massive construct. Most of these are there are only in the possibility of the Automata or Ha'Gael becoming somehow incapable of self-maintenance. "All of you, get to the seats, buckle in, the anti-graviton tether will not be gentle when the inertial dampeners are under powered."

As they all moved forward, the chamber rocked, temporarily tilting their footing as they moved.

"Anti-Graviton Tether: active in seven… six…" Ha'Gael toned to the ghosts that lived within her vast hull.

"Come! Hurry! Secure yourself in anything!" Fenrir yelled back.

[][][

"My lord, bombardment has reached the underground facility." A Jaffa Ha'Tak Second informed to the Goa'uld Ship-Lord on its gold covered throne.

" **How long until the structure is destroyed**?" She asked, tapping fingers against the command-chair.

"It should be annihilated momentar-" The Ha'Tak almost instantly exploded, disintegrating against a nearly impenetrable force shield of the escaping vessel in combination with its profane velocity, the denizens within its gilded hull did not even realize their destruction when they met oblivion.

[][][[[[

The very earth shook as a massive construct exploded from the ground, its energy shields shoving off the mass of stone and dirt, when it deactivated from fatigue, the massive world-ship shot into the air and the spaces beyond, breaching the atmosphere in speeds even an Al'kesh could not match.

To say that the Jaffa stared in both shock and awe as it decimated a large portion of the area, some of their fellows along with it.

'What kind of god could do something like that?' The Jackal Lord asked silently as he saw the ship in the distance, mouth agape.

[][]]]]]

"Ha'Gael? Ha'Gael? Status!" Fenrir yelled, bleary from the sudden acceleration and then gradual stop, the tether no long having an adequate supply of native gravitons in the void, causing its speed to decrease to a near halt.

"Shield non-functional, emitters overloaded from both output and debris damage." Ha'Gael sounded audibly pained over the audio-speakers. "Damage through major dorsal areas."

"Do you have thrusters? Can we maneuver into an asteroid field to hide and activate the Foundry?" Fenrir disengaged his chair-lock, floating out of its embrace, "Shit! Shit!" He muttered as he grasped back for the chair.

"I have minimal function, the Energon source that was brought to renew my systems has cracked from stress."

Fenrir sighed, "Then let's get going, the enemy will send ships here as soon as they recover from the shock." He then looked back into the chamber and yelled, "Hey? Are you all alright?"

The response was a series of groans, curses and quiet wretches.

[][[[[]


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

It has been fifteen days since they retreated into the asteroid field, the 'land' mark that separated this system's habitatable, central worlds and the outer terminus of the solar system with its gas giant and barren planetoids of varying size. While these masses, all uncontested and untapped, had practical mountains available in terms of Burn-Stone (something Fenrir had to learn was called modernly as 'Naquadah'), Trinium and other baser materials like iron, argon and varying radioactive materials, primarily Ursani, to assist in restoring the Energon crystal to full functionality, as well as recover and prepare for the eventual plunge back into the fray.

The entire first week had been focused to giving the Jaffa space worthy suits to harvest the resources initially, so that they may activate the Foundry and rouse the robotic work forces of the variables of Automata.

It was both disquieting and hilarious seeing Jaffa struggle in the void, the gravity bubble being a struggle for them. Until they had a foot under solid ground, where they then acted like the earth-human metaphorical 'as a truck to water' or something to that extent.

When they managed to make sure the Automata would fully reactivate, the repair of Ha'Gael went off better then clockwork, with the streamlined and highly coordinated workforce being led by none other than Ha'Gael herself. While other World-Ships, in fact, all of them plus several military vessels of the clans then eventually Old Hierarchy, had Directorate Persona Metal-Minds in charge of this repair and the gathering of forage materials.

Ha'Gael would not want, nor would she need such, having the mental capacity to operate the Automata as well as all of her other functions and still have some extra processing power leftover.

The reason why this Metal-Mind was not the norm... well...

Fenrir nearly wretched when he sipped the biofeed, a sort of highly nutritious, if tasteless, paste of amino acids, simple proteins, and vitamins that the body required, converted from crude matter such as fecal matter, grime, rocky minerals. Literally being made from dirt.

That didnt explain the taste.

Fenrir dropped the cup of brown-green paste, hacking up the gruel that tasted as if it was created from the decayed, mushroom waste that had laid under Ha'Gael's backside since the beginning of her dormancy.

"Are you alright milord?" Asked Figa, being a few paces ahead of him from the food processor.

"Does it taste abhorrent to you or just me?" Fenrir asked, spitefully quiet.

"Taste as good as it ever does I guess." She shrugged.

"Never mind me." Fenrir commented, waving a hand away from him.

She continued on her way to one of the mag rails, hauntingly vacant where it only shuttled one where it was meant to be moving dozens at a time across the massive vessel.

When he was confident that he was 'alone', he looked up at the dark-copper ceiling. "Are you going to be holding this grudge for much longer?"

The speaker replied, "I do not know of what you speak. The synthesizer was momentarily fouled. It will not happen again." As nonchalantly as any being could.

"And my session with Baxtza? Why the exercise in alarm?"

"Emergency systems were down. Had to make sure that they were still working."

Fenrir seethed a bit, staring at the featureless ceiling in frustration. "Will you be making any more mistakes or exercises when the moments are least convenient?"

Ha'Gael sounded offended, her voice sour as she spoke, "I do not make such mistakes or repair my systems at your leisure. My health is my priority."

Fenrir sighed, "That had better change to be a yes in the not too distant future." Crossing his arms, "Speaking of; do not disturb me for the next two hours or so. I have a guest to entertain."

That confused Ha'Gael, his only sexual partner that she knew of was Baxtza, "The crude woman is on the opposing side of me, the only you'd entertain is your sparsely decorated quarters."

Fenrir smiled, "If that is the case, the vacant quarters shall be... thoroughly entertained."

[][[[

"Ahh!" Denta moaned in bliss, resting her forehead against the hard mattress as Kaennin continued to take her, plunging his glorious girth inside of her depths as he flipped her on her stomach and began to mate her like an animal. "Ah, Kaennin! Are you not yet satisfied?! We have been…" She groaned as his cock reached new depths, "We have been rutting like this for days!"

"If you did not wish it, why accept my advances?" He asked, slowing his pace, grabbing her hair and bringing her head up to his and whispered to her, "Do you do this out of pleasure or from some misplaced sense of gratitude?" Reminding him of the thinly veiled 'gratitude' of Baxtza.

As she thought of the answer, he gave a strong thrust, mudding her thoughts in ecstasy. "Uhm-uh." She moaned as he did it again, "S-Stop, can't think."

"If you do this to thank me, be warned; what I will do will be for my own indulgent. Not yours. But…" He removed himself from her, pushed Denta on her back and loomed over her, blue eyes looking at her near yellow ones with jovial, joyous energy. "If you want me for the sake of pleasing yourself…" He crawled back down over her belly, licking her sweaty left thigh, making her shutter. "I will introduce you to such pleasures the likes of which you have not dreamt of, and may come to my door no matter the hour or the depths of the depravity craved." He began kissing and licking his way to her achingly blissful quim. "What say you?"

Denta was uncertain, of this and many things. Freedom was again hers, her memories, faded from the parasite's abuse, and now this man continued to seduce her and was proposing some kind of intensely physical relationship. She barely knew who she was herself, where to go when this is over or…. Anything, save one thing; what he did when he took her to his bed was amazing.

She gently nodded downwards, locking eyes with him.

He needed no more words, smashing his mouth against her lower lip, pushing his tongue past her folds and pattered against the sensitive nodes of flesh. She shrieked in surprise, gripping his head with both hands, squealing as he continued to bring her closer and closer to climax. "Kaennin!" She yelled out, mouth agape as she arched her back, her orgasm bringing blurry, discolored spots to her vision, only fading when she regained her breath, laying upon the mattress, writhing silently against the quick dashes of lightning that ran through her nerves.

As she began to reclaim a sliver of coherent thought, Kaennin lifted her waist, plunging his genitals again within her own and began bucking against her as if he was rabid, where the only rhythm she could feel was his abandon to plunge then retract just short of fully unsheathing from her, repeating this procedure over and over again.

Her mind numbed from the experience, becoming something just short of a beast in heat as he continued his relentless assault. As he began to pick up pace, her thoughts waned to a starch blankness as he finally groaned into his own climax.

Hours passed. Or was it seconds? She could not track much other than her own exhaustion and the searingly pleasant, liquid warmth in her belly.

She must have fallen asleep immediately after, as her next coherent thought were of waking in the room, devoid of Kaennin. Despite his absence, she smiled to herself as she lay. She found him allowing to know certain things of him… reassuring. She was surrounded by trained Jaffa, many remembering her former bondage as the face and voice of the Headhunters, unwilling to look pass acts she herself did not do. With Kaennin explaining what his real name was and why he shared it with her satisfied his sense of both trust and respect to her, a human was either viewed as a host or slave in the dominions of the Goa'uld, but to him, he respected her because of it, not in spite of it. When she asked why, he replied that humans were 'terribly wonderful', that the ones that led to our birth, the Gate Builders, unintentionally created both a horror and a miracle all at once, one that he would see free and protected, by both himself and the Jaffa who he believes will follow him in the near future.

Denta moved herself into a more comfortable position on the featureless bed, thinking as she drifted back to slumber, 'He shared that name with me because it was his human name. To the Jaffa, they would only see him as Fenrir, a warrior, a slayer of false gods, a liberator. To me? I am not sure yet.' A brief flutter flew around in her stomach, 'But he is at least a wonder. No doubt about that.'

][]]]][

"Alright, Ha'Gael will control these Various Environment Shuttles by remote as we take them from settlement to settlement and evacuate all of the Jaffa that will come." Fenrir folded his arms across his chest, gesturing to the dots on the holographic star system in the Wardroom displaying the drop sites on the three planets in the system, Hijin, Tzorim, and the capital-world, closest to the sun, Ix'Zary. "You will be sent two per shuttle, and defend your position as the Portals send them here to safety."

"The vehicles are not armed?" Hassir voiced, eyes attentive and energetic with the plan, the possibility of setting free more of her sisters and brothers.

Fenrir shrugged and chuckled, "Not enough room past the Intangibility device, the micro Jumper, Portal connector and hyperdrive. Besides, these, the shuttles have enough armor to accelerate into an asteroid and be left only a few dents."

Brishin smiled, "Good because, baring Btahm, you have some seriously poor pilots under your command."

"That's what my control is for, Jaffa." Ha'Gael herself spoke into the room, having learnt Summa-Goa from not only their discourse aboard, but monitoring communication between the Goa'uld motherships and the surface of worlds. "You are not trained to use these, yet."

"That is correct, but I believe you are more than capable of doing what you do best on the ground!" Fenrir laughed, "Cutting down any foolish to fire on you or those who flee?!"

Figa spoke, "With these weapons…" She deployed her Apex armor, having registered a pattern of it to each member of the cabal. "This will seem like child's play."

"Do not allow overconfidence to cloud judgment. Continue to use cover, do not over extend your reach, do not attack, only defend." Fenrir then grinned, "But do try and have fun. I will send down the message to the center of each population center. It will undoubtedly draw attention of the guards first, but if you need to show of your superior to the people, a sign of our truth and might, do so conservatively and not stray from the shuttle."

"What of you, my lord?" Kanyto asked.

"Oh yes." He said before continuing in a plain tone, "I'm going to commandeer a Ha'Tak over Hijin while you all are busy."

[][]]]][[

"My lord, I beg of you to let me accompany you." Kanyto stated, following Fenrir's side in private request when the others began mobilizing for the mission.

"My dear, then who would cover Figa? She is already a sore target, she will need your aim and your quick eye." He turned his head slightly, "You know better than most I can take care of myself. Why do you wish to follow me about so?" Deciding to be a bit teasing, ran a hand across her cheek, pushing back grey hair past her ear.

She looked away from him instantly, a sense of exposure and embarrassment from his gesture, she spoke as evenly as possible. "You may be strong but you know only little of us Jaffa and the Goa'uld are another story altogether. I can guide your-" He silenced her by placing a thumb over her lips.

"You will be a miracle today, but not by my side, but by helping your people find freedom from Goa'uld. This mission is mine. Now, please go to the hangar. Prepare for war." He said, voice as sweet as honey dappled across her ears. 'How can anyone sound so perfect?' A telepathic suggestion? Some kind of psionic manipulation? Maybe. The possibilities did not dilute the effects his venomously succulent words had on her heart and mind.

She bowed her head to him, "Y-Yes, my lord." Before departing as he instructed.

[[][]]]]

"There are over eight hundred life forms on that vessel." Ha'Gael spoke through the short-wire on the shuttle as he departed along with the others. Twelve vessels excluding his own, all quickly merging their skins with the star-spotted void, dashing to their varying destinations like bees, searching for their prized pollen to return to the hive.

"I know. I can read." He commented, touching several control triggers and sigils.

"You will not be able to kill them all in time for you to take control of the vessel. They would likely pin you down on the bridge."

"Perhaps." The ship making a quick stop before Jumping. The aforementioned Jumper was similar to the Asgard teleportation mechanism, save instead of just converting small matter to an energy-stream, the Jumper made it possible to convert the whole mass of the starship. It was useful, however, only in short distances, being unable to keep coherent hold over interstellar distances, disintegrating in less than half a light-year, not to mention the time required by the computer to plot the course and set out. A brief moment of no-input, as if someone plucked the stars away from the sky, then the matter reemerged and he was again in the system, looking down at the 'small' world of Hijin, the Ha'Tak barely a mite of dust in his vision against the sheer size of the world bellow.

"Why do you enjoy these solitary suicide missions?" Ha'Gael asked in a condescending tone.

"Suicide? You imply there's a chance I may die on one of these." He thrust the controls forward, accelerating towards the Goa'uld mothership, "Have you not learned!? I am going to live forever!"

The shuttle quickly diminished the distance between it and the orbiting Ha'Tak, the sensors analyzing the shields and adjusting the hull for contact. Fenrir did not slow in his speed, bent on penetrating the vessel with his own as he shifted through the shields and wracked though the golden pyramid center.

Bodies flew out from the massive hole in the vessel, Jaffa and human slaves alike, bouncing off the walls into the bare vacuum of space.

The VES decloaked, and quickly strode out Fenrir, armed in the burnt Apex he donned on the world bellow, baring the scars on his armor proudly, magnetic locks on his boots securing his weight on the starship, striding steadily forward.

As he met a sealed bulkhead, he unfurled his Particle Halberd, the scorching hot metal blade slicing into the reinforced door like a blade across water, air hissing angrily as it escaped to the exposure he left behind him. The VES quickly dislodged itself, no better for wear as Ha'Gael retrieved the vessel and Jumped it back to her clutches.

He activated his armor's sensor, smiling at the numbers that lay between him and the Pel'Tak. "Ahhh if only you knew death came for you this day."

[][][[

Baxtza was relieved when she was given the mission to the capital. She knew it was Fenrir's way of telling her 'Go find your family', disguised as a mission. She was happy that he took her family's existence positively, uncertain if she could continue to seduce him if he knew. If anything their last exercise was more thorough.

As the invisible craft landed in a clearing in the metropolis, shooting up dust and sand from the stony streets. Immediately opening the rear of the middle of the 'C' shaped shuttle, the intangibility field dissipating, shocking the people nearby as it set down.

Baxtza and Brishin pressed a sigil along the underside of their right gauntlets, their Apex armor deploying across their bodies, but they carried their old and familiar staff weapons out, both unwilling and unable to rely on weapons they know nothing of.

Baxtza spoke to the people that had gathered, "My friends, I come before you bearing the hope of seeing you all free from Ix-Chel and all Goa'uld! Behind me is a portal, bring all you can through it if you desire to defeat Ix-Chel before she adds you and your children's bodies to her Pyre!"

Of course, there was an air of sudden, shocked confusion, as people, whom were continuing their lives such as they were when Ix-Chel annexed their worlds.

Brishin sighed, "Guess they'll need some visual assistance." She said to herself, pressing the communication rune on her gauntlet, "Ha'Gael? Can you use the shuttle to project that interrogation video Fenrir made when we made the visit to the camp?"

"One moment." The World-Ship replied.

Brishin then gestured to her partner, "Go find Son'Tza and B'ari."

Too ecstatic to correct her, she quickly dashed from the town square and ran south, to the rural gardens.

Brishin looked back at her, smiling as she slipped two fingers into a pouch at her belt, "It is probably going to be hard to explain to them how you've been bribing your so called savior with your own body." Pinching one of the tracking globes that the Headhunters gave her a winter ago.

[][[[[]

"B'ari! Sa'Tza!" Baxtza entered the hovel, held firm with cascrete and stones against the intense heat and sandy winds of the plains. She left out the door to the otherside, "Amae'an?! Where in the underworld are you?! Where are my daughters?!"

As her eyes analyzed her surroundings, the poorer, looser connected linings of housing off the dense metropolis. She gripped hair in hissing frustration, panic and fear gripping her heart like a great serpent's vice. She ran back to the hovel and analyzed the interior for any tracks or clues of departure of its seemingly vacant denizens. As she ran a hand over a sandy floor, finding the remains of some kind of imprint, she heard from behind her, "Halt! Name!"

As she snapped around, Va'Tok pointed, her flank was met with a pulse blast from a similar weapon, but only dazed her a second from the shield take the energy of the shot and the armor taking the minute kinetic impact, where she pointed her staff at the attacker on a knee and hesitated as she looked upon her.

Baxtxa's eyes widened as she gave a gasp and dropped her weapon to the floor. Before her she beheld a child before the age of Prim'Ta, holding in her small, clumsy hands, an old, worn Va'Tok. Where she remembered, what feels like centuries ago, a child, bright eyed and innocent, holding close to her older sister with uncertain curiosity as Baxtza left them both with Amae'an. Now she saw a child, eyes darker and angry, skin tanned, hands blistered and rough as she held the staff, sheer determination replacing what should have been skill as she pointed the dangerous weapon, knowing if it were not for the armor she wore, she would have very well been dead.

Baxtza felt the pain tinge of tears as she dropped to both her knees and quietly asked out, "B'ari?"

The girl's eyes flinched, taking in the trespasser's features slowly, flinching between her head and her hands in paranoia. After several seconds, her own features softened as she began to recognize key features, of a time long passed. Her staff wobbled in her hands, "W-Who are you? You infringe on my family's house."

Baxtza had to fight the urge to reach out and hold her youngest child once more, barely past a babe when she had to leave her in a friends care to fight a hopeless war. "My name is Baxtza, y-you and…. Where is your sister? Sa'Tza? Your guardian?"

"How do you know…? Are you? No, you are dead." She whispered, staff shaking harder as its weight affected her holding it in this way has begun to give. "Can you be-?"

Baxtza slowly reached out, pushing the eye-like barrel of the Va'Tok downwards, only meeting the slightest resistance, "I am not dead. I cannot die knowing you would be left without both parents."

B'ari immediately dropped the staff and flung herself at her long lost mother, wrapping arms around her, skin scraping against rough armor as they embraced one another.

Boxtza spared a moment to release her own tears, holding B'ari's head against her shoulder. She sniffed, smiling, pulling her youngest daughter back, "Now, where is Sa'Tra and Amae'an?"

B'ari rubbed away her watery eyes and picked up the Va'Tok Staff, walking just outside of the hovel and yelled, "It is safe! She is a friend!"

After a moment, the pair left their moldy hiding places along the lines of the metropolis outskirts and made way to their home.

The first Baxtza saw was Amae'an, an old Jaffa that has begun to make way into her elder years, eyes dim, muscles no longer what they were, the centuries old crone warrior smiled at her long lost friend. "Ah, little-fighter!" She quickly embraced Baxtza, "It is good to see you well!"

"Worse knowing you let my youngest daughter approach an armed stranger!" She both glared and laughed, "You have taught her well. But where is my oldest? Why did she not greet me instead of B'ari?"

As she spoke, another entered through the door, staying near it as she looked on Baxtza, her eyes passivity poorly masking their disdain. As Baxtza recognized Sa'Tra, she noticed that the girl's posture was odd and gasped when she saw her right arm, from above the elbow-down, was gone, the fleshy nub covered in sandy bandages. As she did so, Sa'Tra practically spat, "Mother."

Pushing aside Amae'an, she knelt in front of Sa'Tra extending a hand out to grasp a shoulder, but the girl flinched and backed away from it. "By all of the gods…. What has happened?"

Sa'Tra's fury was as clear as day now as she cursed, "You damned me to this."

Baxtza's eyes widened, "What do you mean?"

Amae'an moved towards the pair where she then spoke, "During the initial days of the occupation, food was scarce. We were desperate to feed B'ari and… she was caught, hands upon stolen bread and they punished her."

Baxtza closed her eyes in horror, bowing her head. She was shocked out of her laments when she heard the roar of Death Gliders, running above. "Quickly! You must all come with me!"

[][][][]

"I tell you…" Fenrir flicked his fingers down to the floor, blood practically pouring from his digits, before he retracted his right's hands armor protection enough so when he placed his naked hand onto the Pel'Tak's control node, he could access the ship's metal mind without interference, moving around the corpses at his feet.

'This beast's mind is even simpler then the Tauri's earth-bound base.' He thought to himself as he interacted with its aspects mentally. "Now, shall we see where most of you be?" The sensors quickly popped up on the screen and displayed the dispersal of the Grand Army on the surface beneath him. A great many, he smiled, were gathered near the World-Gate.

He quickly gave the command to the Ha'Tak, the massive vessel moving out of orbit and swiftly began its descent to the surface with haste. Fenrir cleaved his halberd into the control-mechanism, assuring that, even if they could somehow control the vessel elsewhere, gravity and her infinite, all spanning brutal finesse will assure that it will fall upon or near the World-Gate to cause massive damage to the thousands strong on Hijin.

Now, the aspect of the mission which would prove the trickiest: getting off the ship before it starts to burn in the atmosphere.

"Gael! It's time!" Fenrir said enthusiastically into his comm, "If you would be so kind as to take me someplace more scenic?"

The great World-Ship calculated for only a minute before she said, "I believe it will be plenty scenic where you are, off the left view you would be seeing dense jungle in less than one and a half minutes."

"Sass me later darling! Get me outta here!" He spoke in Gjin-Ai.

"Acknowledged. Proceed after of the bridge-deck, the VES will have its hatch prepared."

He smiled, pointing his particle halberd to the hull facing him and fired volley after volley, until the last vault he jumped met noting but minimal gravity and the black embrace of space. He managed to twist his body around, seeing the approaching world, and the Ha'Tak he had so elegantly departed light like kindly in a firepit. As his mass wandered in near weightlessness, the VES's central section embraced him, the main hatch closing him in and his view of the spectacle ahead.

[][[[[[[]

"Come! Quickly!" Baxtza heard the enemy Va'Tok fire grow louder, pounding against the hull of the shuttle, made a holographic display of a god, in Fenrir's torturous hands, face bloody as it cried out, 'I am no god! I am no god! Please, don't kill me!' Before being met with silence and the massage repeating again. "Brishin! To your right! We-" But she was met only with fire as she rounded the corner, enemy jaffa and crone guards having gathered near the shuttle, too close in fact. "Brishin! Where are you!?"

Almost on que, the quartermaster flew out of cover, shooting several Jaffa with well-placed shots, nearly clearing the block with of them. "Get them in! Half the metropolis has entered the Portal since the recording played!"

"See that! Run into it! I will cover!" Baxtza yelled to her children and friend, running out of cover and shooting her staff at a firing line not to far, forcing them back into cover, sandy stone debris fracturing and shattering under powerful Va'Tok shots.

As soon as her family was safe, past the mystical red-warping pool of the Portal, she yelled to Brishin, "Let us depart from this place! Before the Death Gliders come 'round again!"

Nodding to her comrade and smiling behind her helm, knowing that she had let pass more than refugees seeking freedom.

][][][[[]]]

"Evacuate! Now! To the Gunships! The transport! Fly from here!" The Lord Marshall practically yelled over the communication network, "Get away from the Chappa'ai, that mothership is coming down right on it!"

"We have nearly half the Grand Army there my lord!" A Secunde yelled out, both informatively and in shock at what would inevibaly occur.

The crash itself could be described as cataclysmic, not only with the innumerable Jaffa crushed from the impact and its force, but from the reactors and the Chappa'ai, all Naquadah heavy, exploded with such a force that it would put an Ark-Bomb to shame. The Stargate was undoubtly destroyed in the event, with the easiest means of retrieving the Grand Army from their homeworld of Ishkar, even if the Nebula Storms have died down, allowing hyperspace travel safer, navigating said nebulae would take nearly a month between Ix'Zary and Ishkar.

The Lord Marshal has lost most possibly the greatest army in the western territories of the Goa'uld Empire. Thousands of souls, snuffed away in mere moments. The jackal-guard shook his head within his helm, looking at the explosion from his vantage point in a Gunship. "How many have survivied?"

It took a minute or so for the Rol'Na armor columns and their infantry brigades to confirm their existences to the Secunde. "We have just over one thousand souls, my lord. The first wave that was sent out."

He cursed himself, knowing that the spearhead wave was the thinnest, most veteran of the Grand Army. He would not be able to successfully comb this world of the rebels with so few, but he at least there were at least two thousand still at home, the third waving having yet to depart.

But now, he was with minimal support and he doubted that the Goa'uld, especially his queen in Ix'Zary, would wait for his explanation before they ripped his Prim'Ta from him.

[][][][[[[]]]]

Hassir strode up to the VES which opened to reveal her lord, wiping blood, crusted and frozen off his armor with a cloth. "My lord, we have saved some tens of thousands of souls, it is difficult to count in such a short number, but we have sent them to the apartments in the first arm."

"Ha'Gael?" He asked nonchalantly, his armor folding into his chest piece and gauntlets.

"Seventy-three thousand, five hundred, sixty-two, of which, twenty-thousand, one-hundred and seven are human." The Metal-Mind answered.

His eyebrows rose, "Wow. Can't believe it was this successful, thought it would take several sessions to be this fruitful."

"The Jaffa are more than willing to fight against false-gods." Kanyto walked to Hassir's side. "We all just need the hope of victory which you have provided."

"Flattery will get you everywhere my friend." Fenrir chuckled as he placed a hand on Kanyto's shoulder, passing her to view past the hangar, the vast number of Jaffa, old, young, women, men, children all being directed by the Automata to the World-Ships vacant apartments, for food and rest.

"Now, where is… ah!" He exclaimed as he saw Baxtza, "Are they alright? The children?"

Baxtza stiffly nodded, "I wish to speak with you on that; my eldest daughter has lost a massive portion of her arm… do you have anything that can regrow it?"

Fenrir's smile pressed into a dry line, "No, but I… Ha'Gael, have you awakened the Apothecary?"

She almost sounded displeased, "Must I? If I rouse him, I cannot guarantee he will be able to stop talking."

"Gael…." Fenrir chastised.

"The Apothecary, Ria-zar, is in the process of awakening, proceed to deck five, blue sector." Ha'Gael continued.

"Get your children, and meet me there as soon as you can."

[[]]][[]]

"Jaffa! Kree!" One of the disguised Crone-Guards ordered her small cabal, holding explosives and sabotage equipment under cloaks and dresses.

"This vessel is massive! We do not know where to strike!" One Jaffa said.

"If we cannot find anything vital to pluck from this ship, we will attack the residential areas, exposing these traits to space. Simple." She continued.

Little did they know that Ha'Gael was monitoring the group of Jaffa as they fled from the main lines of refugees. The Burn-Stone explosives were so easy to pick out that she instantly had drafted a dampening field for the device's trigger across the deck, moving it with the group as they fled into her depths. She was actually having fun, anticipating if the group would come across a chamber that led to vacuum, where she would send them out of and have them choke on voice, but became disappointed as they travelled further in without crossing such an opportunity.

A part of her desired to mention the saboteurs to her maker, but refrained from doing so, feeling hope that they would become lucky enough to cross an airlock eventually.

[][][[[

"Ah! Welcome! Welcome!" A red painted, multi-armed Automata exclaimed at the ground entryway to the massive Hospice, a cylinder, breaching multiple decks of blue sector. "It has been over one-hundred thousand years since my last patient, please! I am eager to help!"

Fenrir placed a hand up, "Greetings, Rai-zar, I come in the hopes you can gift a child void of a limb, a new one?"

"Of course!" All the hands clasped together over its chest in cheer, "I merely need a genetic sample to forge the markers of the prosthetic in order to prevent rejection, and the patient himself!"

"Herself, the child and her mother should be here shortly."

After a time, the Baxtza's family arrived, Rai-zar quickly ushered them all within the Hospice, the building engaged in a throng of repair, with the Metal-Mind Rai-zar returning his home and occupation to prime splendor, a bustle with Medical Automata like the one at the front, sweeping, shining and sanitizing a long abandoned realm. While he will have to coordinate with Ha'Gael for maintainers to fully repair certain facilities, the Hospice was quickly reclaiming a semblance of familiarity to Fenrir's memories.

"Come come! On this!" The Automata led the group to a series of beds, with the back of showing a number of robotic limbs, legs, arms, forearms, thighs, all ready to be equpuided. "Now! What will happen: I need a sample of your genetic material, shortly after, I will induce a phantom sensory phenomena to attune your nerves to the synthetic limb. This will take several days, depending on the ease of tranisition of the neveres attumenment to a forign imput/output. I have several Automata preparing you and your daughters quarters for the stay on the deck bellow."

Amae'an shuffled to Fenrir as the family asked a barrage of questions to the Automata, where she asked the Clansman, "You would provide this gift to my friend's daughter for free?"

Fenrir's gaze did not leave Baxtza, as she smiled from the prospect of her daughter having both limbs once more, "No and yes. I ask, in partial repayment, where is their father?"

"Yur'ma died in a construction accident seven years ago, sometime after B'ari was born. Why?"

Fenrir shrugged, "Baxtza did not speak of her husband. I assumed he lived and not talking of him made our activities easier." He frowned.

"Activities?"

"Oh um…" Fenrir looked away, "Never mind me."

[]]][[

"We have several thousand souls willing to fight, including men and several elders." Hassir continued her advising, "As well as several humans, but I am under the assumption that you would not welcome them in our forces?"

"You assume incorrectly, Hassir." Fenrir narrowed his eyes to her, "They have the same will to fight as any Jaffa, they merely may not be as adept as your kind. Have several placed under more… patient Jaffa give them basics of warfare, we will need every arm that can hold a weapon straight and soon."

Hassir bit her tongue on commenting, she disliked the idea of her fellow Jaffa fighting alongside mankind, weak, feeble and having lost their teeth beng slaves made use only in building, mining, farming and serving as hosts for the children of the gods, illegible, weak and frail. "As you wish." She spoke maybe a little too harshly, before turning around and walking out of the Foundry chamber, a bustle of Automata working with smelting, forging and carving from recently mined Trinium, copper and steel.

Fenrir smiled as they forged not only rows of Apex pattern armor, his own, a newly forged Destroyer pattern, metal still glowing hot of glowing plates, massive pauldrons and more broad, heavier looking piece of technology. The sielding system is improved over the Apex, but the cloaking device still has the problem of destabilizing if shot with an energy weapon, but the armor alone would make the possibility of him even feeling a weapon impact, let alone being harmed from it, is minimal.

'Not only that…" Fenrir thought as he reach forward, taking a copper-colored staff weapon, the head more like a spear then a bulb, opening up three ways instead of two, the electromagnetic field holding the pulse blast being more efficient, can be formed almost immediately after a shot is left. The end of the Va'Tok, replacing the club, is more of a pyramid point, with a very tiny barrel where a tip should be, a cartridge of excited particles at the base of the point. While this particle cannon is limited in shots, the piercing power alone makes up for it. It would almost make a fair close quarter weapon. He has kept the dimensions of the Va'Tok staff, its weight, but by the Cosmic Eternals, was it better. The main pulse cannon was replaced with a plasma thrower, replacing the yellow-white shot that had varying chances of killing power, shot force and overall weapon efficiency, with a teal-green plasma shot that could shatter cover, obliterate an enemy's body and burn through armored individuals or vehicles. An experienced wielder of the Va'Tok would be made near unstoppable with this, the Plasma Lance.

"Kanyto, please come forth." He held the Plasma lance to her with both hands, presenting it to her like a gift, "Take this weapon and tell me how it can be perfected. This is a weapon made for Jaffa hands, as it is, it must be able to stand to your standards."

He continued the rest of the day, making sure that the new residential areas were fully functional and the new district representaitves knew how to interact with Ha'Gael if they had any issues with the apartments. Until he was able to reforge the Hierearchy, with a bustling buerarctic system to take care of day to day issues, he will need to make sure his new subjects will have understanding and acess to their new resources.

When the day finally waned and he retreated back to his quarters atop of Ha'Gael's blue sector, he was happily surprised to discover Denta in his chambers, but was sternly surprised by a Medical Automata under the control of Ria-zar. The humanoid drone was the first to speak, "Ah master! You have returned just in time!"

He eyed the machine and his human lover skeptically, "What is the meaning of this, Apothecary?"

"Yes, well-"

"I can explain this, machine-helper." Denta declared in Summa'Goa with surprising force, her words being warped in lacking of exact descriptions, quickly growing a mirrored reflection in Fenir's mind's eye of the time she was a host. Maybe more of the parasite rubbed off on her then either had anticipated. She looked back to her host and her initial meekness returned as she made eye contact, "I uhm… I am…" She quickly silenced herself and reached out for his hands and placed them on her belly. "I awoke this morning very sick. I did not expect seed to take hold so soon after our encounters."

He was not certain if she expected him to feel a heart beat or a simple thought from the embryo, but he smiled warmly to her, as she desired. "Ah my dear. I apologize if this was-"

"Please, I must know, will it be… like me? Or I was? I do not-"

Fenrir sighed quietly, as he thought, 'Honestly, I was not anticipating siring any of the Clan until I made certain they could be born under a sky and stars that they owned through me.' "The child should be free of the paraistes influences, if my understanding of their biology is still sound." He turned to the Automata which quickly nodded.

"You are correct, but the embryo may be influenced by the Burn-Stone in her system, making her a hybrid unlike anyother. I do not know what it will have, but past studies indicate it may act as a psionic amplifier. I will keep her under close observation, with you leave." Rai-zar commented, waving a metallic, skeletal hand as he tried to express himself through the expressionless Automata.

"You have it, whatever you recommend." Fenrir nodded back to the Automata.

"H-Hybrid? It will be like you then?" Denta asked, fear painting her voice. Siring a child at all was terrifying in her mind, but having whatever influences from its father? What in the name of the gods would that do to it? To her?

Fenrir smiled, stroking her cheek with the back of his hand, "Fear not, there is nothing to worry over." He gestured to the bed where he made her sit, "The child is a hybrid, whatever that means to you, I know it cannot be like me fully. He or she will be human in every sense of the word, but by the time usually of mid-childhood or so, it will begin to show more traits of a Clansman, those given to me and those like me by an artefact called the Heart of Darkness."

While it settled her only slightly, she continued to ask, "W-What… how are you different? What is the artefact?"

"The Heart of Darkness is… well, unknowable. Loki managed to find one when he discovered its connection to the Great Enemy. He exposed me and my kind when we were humans, no different then you, mere children, induced in a womb like sleep to better accept its blessings. When we awoke, I was the size I am now, if much younger. I was a mere beast, slaved to my lesser compulsions at the time. It took many years to come to my current refinement." He smiled, squeezing a shoulder as he wrapped an arm around her neck, making her smile slightly in turn.

"I am different, in how you separate mankind and what beasts is spawned from eons ago. Clansmen were forced to evolve under the cosmic rays of the Heart of Darkness, into beings of undeniable strength, will and endurance. But what we did not expect is that the mutations caused us to lose several vital aspects of our genetic code which a naturally evolving race should have when they procreate. Two first-generation clansmen should _never_ breed, for what would come from that union would be a destructive abomination. So. As the last of the Clans, it is now my duty to resurrect my race, my bloodline, alongside seeing my power, the Hierarchy, return to this area of space and the Jaffa, as well as the humans, freed from parasitic bondage."

It took her several moments to process this information, to which, her eyes widened as she stared at him, "Does this… does this mean there will be others?" Shock staining a hint of disgust or repellence as she contemplated Kaennin laying with other women, siring further descendants. What does that mean of her child? She be but one among a bushel of others? Unloved from her father? Merely a means of insuring his kind do not dwindle?

Kaennin nodded slowly, "I will take others to my bed. I must breed with others, or, if I should die, there will not be a large enough genetic pool for the Clans to truly grow and thrive, generations down the line." He then ran his opposing hand across her brow, pushing her head into his chest. "If you feel betrayed, I am sorry. Know that I will cherish you and the child, and if you wish to leave my side and take the child with you, I understand. I did not confront you with my intentions and-"

"Your intentions were to impregnate me! How in the heavens would I still have let you have your way with me if I had known you wished to do it with me and others and not cared for the child if-!" Pushing away from him and standing up.

"You think I would not care!?" He demanded, "That I would see our children, my offspring as a passing part of my plans?" Still seated, "I would cherish you and the babe. Shower you both in all the affections I could give and all the safety and provisions I could must!" He stood up and walked in front of Denta, the woman unwilling to look up at him until he cupped her chin and forced her to look. "I would embrace you as my cherished woman, my lovely Denta. No matter how you desired presence now or in the future, I am yours in any way you wish."

She fell into small sobs, hugging him. Which surprised Fenrir. He expected her to hit him or curse his name and stomp out, like the many consorts he has taken to make mothers. She was scared, more than anything. He allowed his empathy to access only very surface of her mind, in fear of denying her privacy. He wrapped his arms around her and placed his chine upon her head. He had a quick shock run through his heart as she continued to weep against him, feeling a couple of emotions. The first, the oddest; shame. He hated its sour tang more than his entire exile and imprisonment combined. Second; the bitterest of illusions, hope. He quickly stomped out both, gently guiding her to the bed. After several minutes of her venting her despairs and fears, she fell asleep against him, as still as stone. Not long after, rest found him to, all the willing to share it with Denta.

[[][[]][


	8. Chapter 8

Amidst the cacophony of screaming lieutenants, burning alive, outside of the palace's door on Ix'Zary, the Lord Marshal was bowing before his queen's throne, head touching the overly polished marble-bricks, the being herself sitting on a throne of gilded skeletal remains of previous victims, each holding some memory in Ix-Chel's long life.

Her decorated fingers tapped against golden bones as she stared at the one who failed her in nearly every sense of the word, but one: he still had his life. " **You return, soaked in the bile of those you commanded. You are brave to return at all.** "

"My Queen, we had no way of stopping a Ha'Tak from falling out of-"

" **Kegalo**!" The Ix-Chel pounded a fist against her throne's literal arms. " **Speak again and I will see to it that your death will be as long as it is painful**!" This silenced her Marshal, devoid of his helm, armor, everything, naked as a babe, exposed and humiliated, eighty-eight lashes, bleeding raw on his back, calves and upper arms. It was a mild punishment to Jaffa standards.

Though she was more than tempted to maim and eventually kill this servant of hers for his ineptness. That would mean removing an able warrior and leader of her Jaffa, one she has seen to superior levels of ability for the better part of the century. An investment she cannot afford to lose for personal pleasures now.

" **Rise, Kabil**." Gesturing up with a hand.

He quickly stood up, but kept his gaze downwards. Blood that had been pooling on his back began dripping to the floor at his feet, but despite the agitation it usually caused, such perfect marble being desecrated, the Jaffa's appearance softened the annoyance. The man was of a lighter skin tone, compared to most denizens of these territories, with his head shaven clean mostly, but with a fairly tall row of hair at the center and trailed down to several braid-tails at his neck. While he had a prominent nose, it was not obtuse in its projecting outwards, instead added more attention to his face's lines and brow, which was remarkably handsome, if harshly carved and still like it was made from a similar stone he now bled upon.

She regretted a man so beautiful was a Jaffa, if he were a human slave, he would have taken him to stud instantly as a Goa'uld. Lying with a human, let alone a Jaffa (arguably even worse than the later), was seen as abhorrent to most Goa'uld, especially when openly displayed or acknowledged.

" **Find the one's responsible for the Ha'Tak's fall and br** -"

"I'll find myself, thank you very much!" A man yelled as his shape practically materialized at the palace's door, a massive crate the size he was on his shoulder, arm wrapped around it and secured it from falling despite its great mass. The armor was scorched here and there from weapons fire, but what was secondly noticed was the dyed red hands and lower arms, dripping wet with sticky, liquid warmth.

The lord Marshal was up to challenge immediately and charged the intruder despite his under dress.

Fenrir gave a sharp, short burst of laughter at this, before he was close enough to swat him aside, his physical strength rendering him unconscious and slid his body across the palace until he met a wall. He redirected his vision to the System Lord, "Now, let us treat in words." He began walking forwards, to where Ix-Chel roared her orders to any guards nearby, reaching for her kara'kesh's ring control. Fenrir reached out telekinetically and jammed the gem that would have sped her away, making her smack the back of her hand repeatedly. "Summon what courage you have, little worm, I will not harm you this day." He was about five meters from her throne, where she stood, Fenrir shrugged the massive crate off his shoulder and landed in front of him. "I come with my offering and a gift that will hopefully see my treaty more enticing."

Ix-Chel thrust her kara'kesh forward, the telekinetic push not even registering to him, his erected psionic field having encountered so much stronger. "You and all the Goa'uld in your empire will leave. You may take the host you reside in, flee to the east with a single ship and never return."

" **Such impudence! I will have you skinned alive and bathed in salt**!" Ix-Chel threatened.

Fenrir sighed, "Don't you even want to know what's in the box? It will surely 'sweeten' the deal, as the humans so eloquently use the term."

Ix-Chel's eye twitched, " **Show it then, bastard**!"

Fenrir gave a final look up and down the Queen of Crones, quite enjoying the sight of her host. Specifically, her breasts. He doubted they would even fit in his hands and her dress showed so much of them. Reminding himself he was here on business, he placed a heel on the top of the crate and kicked it over, the lid flying off and the contents spilling forth.

Ix-Chel's eyes flashed in horror, what seemed to be dozens if not over a hundred heads came out from the container, some with the Symbiote still inside their severed hosts, others half out of mouths or the back of necks as they failed to escape. All of them her children.

"That was just all I could find in the northern district of this city." He flung his arms outwardly dramatically, "Give me an hour, I am a dealer of death, but give me the whole day..." He chuckled darkly, "My eve in this fair metropolis has been spent gathering the specimens before you. You have had seven days to recover your remaining forces on Hijin, yes? I will return to this planet in three days. If you and your children remain here, I will kill you all, down to the last of your kind in this system, as few as that be. Only... what? Two hundred or so left, yourself included? Give or take? You should spread your offspring further out, or were you so afraid of them gathering away from sight to overtake you that you must have them near?"

Fenrir reengaged his intangibility cloak. Leaving silently, his gift still stun shock the system lord.

[][[[

"Eternals, I fucking love my job!" Fenrir smiled, yelling to the VES as he piloted out of atmosphere and into the system's outer terminus.

"You don't have a job." Ha'Gael toned into the shuttle.

"Up and coming galactic despot isn't an occupation? I've been unemployed since the Hierarchy was formed then." He chuckled. The Jump back was instant, and as he danced through the distances between asteroids, he looked upon Ha'Gael in all her restored splendor, smiling. "Don't get any ideas but I have to say, you look beautiful again."

"Thanks Dad." Ha'Gael toned sardonically, making him laugh.

The new army of the Hierarchy was ready for the invasion. The VES will reverse the stream of their teleportation nodes, with the pads on Ha'Gael sending them forth from the shuttles, thus requiring no dedicated transportation. While this was a great boon, it was also a weakness. A VES can take a lot of damage, but he doubted this endurance lasted as well against fire from one or several of those Goa'uld tanks, Rol'Na, or a Ha'Tak staff fire barrage from orbit. The Jaffa under his command would have to speed away from the shuttles before they are targeted.

The other factor is air support. The Goa'uld could swarm Death gliders and gunships if they desired and while Apex armor is fairly resistant to such attack, its shield and armor would eventually give way. While thy had enough resources to fabricate Alpha space supremacy fighters, which could work in atmosphere, he couldn't make Ha'Gael remotely control a combat dedicated vessel in a purely offensive manner. It was one of those few sacred sanctions most the Clans followed, Metal Minds were made for controlling ship systems, improving aspects of society, but were forbidden to be forced into combat. The Alterans did such to both Fenrir and what would eventually be the Clans and various metal minds, to poor effects later down the line. The paths of war should only be embraced by the willing, Metal-Minds included. While Ha'Gael was not a pacifist by any means, especially if she was attacked, she is a gentle soul and would not seek out battle unless she had no choice.

But then he considered the Plasma Lances, how they were retrofitted with ClanTech but still based on Jaffa/Goa'uld design. Maybe he could instead fabricate death gliders or an equivalent, but upgrade them overall? A targeting system would be vital, weapon rate of fire and maybe anti-armor/fortress secondaries? Maybe the later would be too much, he doubted he had many Jaffa on hand who would instantly interface the new options and keep their past skills coherent. Maybe he was going about the upgrade wrong way, he should get the pilots and make certain that the changes would be for them, not through himself, as Fenrir would likely not pilot them.

While he continued to ponder this as he landed the VES in tertiary port hangar, he stopped walking as he looked on to Hassir and two Apex armored Jaffa with Va'Tok staves pointed at a group of eight Jaffa, all kneeling in front of his landing pad. As he walked to the ladder off the pad, the magnetically secured vessel was retrieved by Hassir into the repair yards for maintenance.

"What miracle is this, Hassir?" He gestured to the kneeling Jaffa, his helm folding back.

"We have caught these saboteurs trying to harm the Foundry on Yellow Sector. They have admitted being sent by Ix-Chel, are asking mercy and to join our ranks."

His eyes narrowed at them, "You would fight against the one who sent you here?"

One quietly piped up, "Y-yes milord. We wish for freedom against the Goa'uld."

"But you came here to deprive it from your fellows." Fenrir growled. "You came here to deal with what you perceived to be heretics and traitors. Women, men, children. You desired to see them all dead or worse."

Hassir toned, "What would you have of them? Have them dropped off at a nearby world?"

Fenrir lifted both of his hands, "No, Hassir. They will pay the ultimate price. What they want now, does not matter, what they came here for does." He extended a hand and began to simultaneously telekinetically choke all eight of the prisoner Jaffa, quickly snapping their necks.

Hassir's mouth was agape at this brutality, watching as the bodies fall over.

Fenrir walked past them as he spoke to the armored guards, "Remove their Prim'Ta. Space the bodies."

The quiet elder, furious on the inside, nodded to the guards to continue with his order, walking to her lord's side as they paced to a teleportation pad. "My lord, I will have words with you."

"You will? Wouldn't wish to derail your schedule then." Fenrir spoke, his armor clacking together into its smaller pieces.

"That was an unnecessary exercise in brutality. They were unarmed, defenseless." Hassir grew sick of him outpacing her slightly, speaking to his back. She snatched his upper arm and made him stop and turn towards her. "What you did was beyond brash and dishonorable. You think that killing hapless prisoners will bring you victory? This was unconscionable!"

He took what she initially said passively, but at the last word she muttered, his blue eyes were dyed orange with murder as he swiped away her arm, grabbed her by the armor's chest and held her up against a wall. Hassir stared at new eyes, pupils dilated to slits, but what was odd was that alongside them, two new slits formed along their flanks, like smaller, sister pupils. He hissed, "You dare question me on morality? On right and wrong? To ridicule me that enemies who sought to harm you and all those at your side, when no choice to do so left them, gave up. Intent is intent. Why they surrendered is that they could not complete their mission. Who is to say they would not have completed it later? Stealing weapons? Hm?! What would you have done?"

"I would have cast them off this vessel. I would have chosen mercy." Hassir stared daringly back at the tinted, alien eyes.

Fenrir lowly laughed as he closed his eyes, letting go of Hassir, eyes now blue once more but still kept their reptilian centers. "Mercy? Ahahah... do not be so vain. Kek is Kek is it not? Mercy at this time is both meanings of the word." Walking away from the Jaffa elder. "A question you must ask now; how did they come prepared to sabotage this vessel? Did they have help? Access to our plans? I think you know the answer: we have a traitor in our midst."

Hassir's eyes opened wide in contemplation of who among her own would dare betray not only herself but her sisters? "Ha'Gael?" She asked to the hallway.

"Yes, master Jaffa?"

"These saboteurs; can you track which vessel they came from?"

[][[[]

Earth, Sol System:

Doctor Daniel Jackson contemplated what he finally finished translating. The mask that Kaennin had been brought in with was, outwardly, predominantly Asgardian. That alone was a long, drawn out task, having it being more like a criminal record of what he had done against the Asgard and the 'Great Alliance'. Things such as the 'Burning of Signus Tertiary', the 'Pillage of innumerable population centers' and it keeps going on. When he started to finish the left cheek, he turned just at the right like that he saw small indentations on the INSIDE of it as well, and while they were long faded and could not see them with the naked eye.

That is when he had idea of checking it under a scope, which failed, then an ultraviolet lamp, which also failed. That is when he remembered from the report that the guy saw a lot more of infrared, and maybe he was able to still see the writing even after being contained and it all long worn out.

He doubted an infrared lamp would be helpful, but then recalled that Night Vision goggles were sensitive to thermals, and by extension, infrared. When he flipped them on, he was shocked to see a completely different set of characters then Asgard. It looked like a degenerated form of Anci- Alteran, and if viewed at certain angles had certain elements that appeared like early versions of cuneiform.

He withheld translating the back, focusing on the Asgard which he had more of a hang of now after staring at the characters for this long. When he translated what was indeed a very, VERY lengthy criminal record of worlds burned, fleets destroyed, Asgard killed (permanently), it ended with the 'Seizure of the Depraved City' or something like that. Depraved, decadent, excessive, wicked all sort of blurred together in Asgard.

What the back was indeed a mix of elements of Alteran and seemingly 'looser' semantics, sound symbols that blurred together into clearer words and the grammar was more Subject/object to predicate, with simple sentences refreshingly similar to English. The compounds, however, were built on layers, in A similar manner to Goa'uld, that multiple meanings can be conveyed in a single sentence, but relied on a compound-complex format. If someone wrote this in English, it would translate from 'I do not like hot-dogs because I have a bad body reaction', would be spelt on top of each other like floors on a building or layers on a cake 'I loathe hot dogs, thusly, I do not eat hot dogs, due, to my body reacting to the subject with anger/rejection.' With the base between the top of his feelings towards the subject, the bottom being why, the core being the simple, 'I do not eat hot-dogs'.

Of course what was written was not that. In fact, they were far from any food preference (which would have broken the monotony). Much was of his 'disagreeable acts' against a fellow named Thabel, whom he killed on Earth in a 'flurry of unprecedented enraged parties and great sadness', where he took his 'Ghom-Rah (Many-City, on Earth)' and eventually claimed other clans for his own command.

What was interesting was the name of 'Ghom-Rah'. He swore he heard it before. He turned the mask around and saw the set of symbols for 'Depraved-City' and notes that, of the worlds burned, one city was mentioned on both sides, near the end.

Ghom-Rah. Wicked City of Many [Paths]. On Earth.

It then clicked to him, that month of going to Sunday School with his aunt in Canada finally paid off as he took the mask and ran to General Hammond, where he interrupted a meeting with SG-19.

They all looked at him as he pointed to the mask in hand and he said, "Kaennin, Fenrir, whoever! He-uh, this speaks of a city, a place called Ghom-Rah, the Asgard call it wicked and it- uh I think it's the city of Gommorah from Abrahamic mythology!"

Hammond's eyes briefly widened before he asked eagerly, "How does that help?"

"Well the ancient civilization of the Indus Valley may have been influenced by his presence, where he may or may not have brought resources, knowledge or technology. It was a 'City of Many uh paths, people, different kinds of people. I think he used it as a trade port or outpost of somekind where he and others congregated in some fashion."

They went through the motions, summoned SG-1, Carter found a way to try and get a scan of the area for Naquadah, Trinium or a power signature. The group (mostly O'Neil) gripped about visiting a place with terrible accessibility and heat. Then they decided to go, Jackson too eager to be an archeologist again.

In the meantime, Daniel contacted not only the general for a recommendation of an outside professional, but several members of faculty from University of California, before he finally managed to get on the phone with the man he and humanity may need to decipher or find this tech in the chances that Sam couldn't. Two heads was better than one, right?

"Doctor Rush here, who is this?" A man asked quickly with a Scottish accent.

[][[[[[]

Ix'Zary:

While Kanyto had full well known that her half-sister had produced offspring, she never spoke of them in detail to her, let alone met them. She looked up at the Apothecary, feeling a small knot of apprehension in her gut as she started to ascend into the structure to try and speak with Baxtza and, hopefully, her nieces.

"Ria-zar, excuse me." She got attention of one of the Red-Automata, "Can you guide me to my sister's quarters? I wish to speak with her."

It has been days since any have last seen or spoken with her, which warranted a fair bit of concern on her part. She beseeched Hassir for advice on the matter, where she merely said 'Leave her be'.

She considered her mentor's word on the matter and duly ignore it. Kanyto needed to speak with Baxtza, regardless of her mood.

As she opened the quarters, she was met by a young Jaffa screaming in pain on a table-bed as two Red-Automata held her down and kept the young one down and the other was searing something at the end of half her arm.

Her instincts kicked in and she threw her clawed hands forward, her strength augmented by her Apex armor, hands finding the thin supports at the nearest Automata's neck, snapping it with a sure grip and sudden jerk before she nearly flew over the bed and crashed a heel into the other's 'jaw' the head snapping around and both Automata fell over to the floor.

She quickly scooped up the writhing child in her arms, speaking into her deployed helm, "Fenrir! The Apothecary machines were torturing a child! I am taking her with me! Get Ha'Gael to depower-!"

"Was this child having a prosthesis melded to her?" Fenrir sighed, "You have the gift of good timing, by the way. Seems the subject of the day has been children."

Kanyto blinked and looked down at the girl, barely conscious, her right arm was half replaced by a copper machine like limb, vaguely looking like a traditional human arm with five fingers, a wrist, but plates of armor almost nearly hid the servos beneath them. "She does have a metal arm of some kind."

"They were in the process of fusing it to her. It is painful. Very painful. Drugs dilute connection testing, so must be done free of influences. Ria-zar would not have committed the procedure like this if he knew a better way, he is designed to relieve the harm of his patients, not increase it." The line clicked off after he chuckled, "I suggest apologizing to Rai-zar soon, before he r _eally_ starts keeping a grudge when you're on one of his tables injured."

Kanyto looked down the hallways uncertainly, contemplating a medical-machine with a vendetta.

"Who the in underworld are you?" The child in her arms weakly tried to demand.

Kanyto looked down at her and sighed through her nose, "Why was your mother not with you?" As she began walking back to the room, laying her back on the table.

"I sent her away. I didn't want her or B'ari to be here when they began the testing." She maneuvered to her side on the uncomfortable bed, noting the destroyed Automata at the sides of the room. She rose quickly, the machine-arm spasming painfully a second as it reacted to her shock and the sudden coursing of adrenaline, making her gasp. "What happened here!?"

Kanyto scratched a bit of skin under her right gauntlet, her lips a pressed line, "I-I may have thought that the machines were torturing you when I came in."

San'Tza scoffed, "Why did you come to this room anyways? Mother is on the next floor."

Kanyto looked to the side, "I assume your mother never spoke of me then?"

"I don't know, you haven't told me your name." San'Tza rolled her eyes.

"Kanyto." She replied simply.

San'Tza gave a short laugh, "You're right. She hasn't told me of you."

"I'm your aunt, your mother's half-sister." Kanyto looked her in the eye.

"Oh." San'Tza rubbed her brow of sweat, making an awkward hiss as she breathed in air. "I think she refered to you as the 'Damned mutt of a sister'. Some years ago."

Kanyto's face was still, but she felt far more pained then she dare express as a Jaffa. "I see."

"You!" A new red Automata stood in the door way, "You will remove yourself from these premises! You are not welcome in this Apoth-!"

"Ria-zar! Can she please stay? She thought she was protecting me! She didn't know about the operation or what pain it would have caused." San'Tza sat up from her bed, waving her new hand, the digits only lightly moving from her will. "Please, she meant no harm!"

Ria-zar's controlled Automata looked to the Jaffa warrior, "If you disrupt another operation or damage a single piece of equipment of this Apothecary, I will call security and they will have you quartered, understand?" The machine threatened as best it could, but the voice didn't or couldn't carry a tone of intimidation, sounding more like a complaint then an ultimatum.

"I understand." Kanyto nodded. As she was close to getting up and leaving the room to wait outside, Sun'Tza grabbed her wrist.

"Please stay a while. I haven't heard my mother speak of you other than curses. I would like to know of you, get to know the other side of the barricade."

Kanyto happily smiled and nodded, sitting back down at the foot of the bed.

[][][][[]

"I am telling you, the 'Wolf Glider' is an excellent name!" Fenrir pointed at one of the pilots as she climbed the stair to the cockpit.

Btham threw a dismissive hand, "That name is almost as bad as 'Blood Glider'."

Fenrir shrugged, "We have a theme in the Hierarchy! Blood, wolves and maybe some other things. We have an image to keep now that you're all a part of it!" Laughing.

Btahm settled into the 'Wolf Glider's' seat, the usual browns and earthy tones of the Death Glider being replaced by bronze, crimsons, the Control-Module, no longer a bulbous red circle, instead a dark blue, flat, triangular surface with a crude indent of both right and left hands on it. The dual Staff Weapons at the prow of the fighter craft replaced with a single Plasma Repeater and a Phason-Torpedo launcher. The former was related to the new Plasma Lance, now spreading in access to the Jaffa, and are arguably less powerful then their handheld cousins, but this firepower was replaced with two things: range and rate of fire, and now with the Targeting Display on the fore of the pilot's canopy, the weapon could destroy or at least dissect a portion off the target with enormous precision and efficiency. The Phason-Torpedo, however, was as foreign and exotic a weapon as Btahm could come into contact, being reminded of tales of Asgard magiks. The limited ammunition of the launcher, nine shots, was capable of tracking a target locked in the reticule as well as following the path of a Spot-Marker for a coordinated attack on a larger ship's subsystem, being marked by a coordinator on another ship some distance away with superior sensors and able to act as a commander of the flock of fighters. "Now that you entrust Jaffa with these superior instruments; you must also now integrate our images!" The cockpit's shield closed around its occupant, fully armored and only visible through the one seated within its embrace.

Fenrir smiled, "Speaking of superior instruments: Ha'Gael!" He enclosed his new armor's helm, making sure that his voice was private to the World-Ship's ears. "How is the Anti-Mass Star going? Is activation under way?"

"Indeed." Ha'Gael replied simply, before sending an image of the massive (to him) skyscraper sized Sun, in the heart of the World-Ship, its mass captured in a subspace envelope, a 'light' pocket dimension, where certain automated facilities within the bubble act as converters of the star's energies, siphoning the solar, radioactive and convective aspects to Energon Converters and the Energon Conduits of the ship herself. "I will be in full functionality within the hour."

"Hehe excellent." Contemplating the Foundry at full functionality, as well as Red-Sector being fully deployed of its Shipyards, spewing forth whole fleets to reconquer his domain. But, one thing at a time. He had to first claim the Ix'Zary system, completely. As he has not detected a mothership leaving the system, he can assume his ultimatum two days ago was fruitless. Not that he minded. Fenrir already has a vision of what he will do to Ix-Chel and her kin, after he claims the Capital, then the Palace, then their lives. What he has to do, to implement his vision was to find a barren spot of land, away from any main populations. Which is difficult due to the world's dense and far spread population, being as much a Factory-World as it is a political capital. He imagined it would be a grim tourist destination in the following generations, after the corpses were picked clean and disintegrated.

"My lord?" Hassir asked, approaching Fenrir. "The cabal has been assembled in the Wardroom. If you would accompany me?"

Fenrir did so, asking of the new officers that are now in charge of the fresh platoons formed from the Jaffa volunteers that evacuated to Ha'Gael. They had near a thousand troops, most outfitted with Apex armor, and of those unwilling to equip themselves with the armor, have at least a Plasma Lance. Of these, former warriors and even System Lord Guards have taken up positions of leadership to lead the less skilled or more unable Jaffa. The humans bolstered the force by nearly two-hundred, with most of the humans afraid of taking up arms against the Jaffa they have feared for generations. Some were led by Jaffa themselves, as per his suggestion to Hassir. The only real concern he has with humans being flanked by Jaffa was that either would use their weapons upon each other rather than the enemy that seeks either their enslavement or destruction.

"Then we have Goz'An, a male, oddly enough. He said he was once a caravan coordinator during the Wastes Expeditions on Ix'Zary, where he led some women for several weeks against the deserters and bandits. I wouldn't take his word on the event, but he has volunteered to lead two brigades of humans, so it hopefully won't be too large an impact." Hassir continued with her description of the new leadership of the army.

"As long as he pushes them in the right direction, I am certain the Jaffa that lead the humans directly will take care of the rest." Fenrir shrugged to one side. "What we truly must be concerned with is getting there. Ix-Chel has repositioned all of her Ha'Taks in orbit over the Capital, a dozen motherships and hundreds of Death Gliders. We can only pump out maybe seventy Wolf Gliders, which will possibly be enough to secret the screen of VESs to land on the world. What happens in between landing and deployment? We are discovered and they commence bombardment, cutting the invasion down before it can truly begin." He paused as they both reached the Wardroom door's. "Unless we give them something… bigger to shoot at."

[][][]

"Take another Ha'Tak?" Figa asked, her tone as disbelieving as the expressions of her fellows around her. "You were extremely lucky that you took the one, they will be paranoid, garrisons will be _in_ the Ha'Tak's themselves. We would either be delayed long enough for the plan to be pointless or killed. Victory seems the minimal chance of victory."

"So we do not take just one." He pointed at the holographic representation of the motherships in orbit, "We attempt to take several, with as many Apex worn warriors as we can place into the VESs and we use them to deny Ix-Chel her motherships. Trust me, this can work."

"If he could do it by his lonesome, a team could do this more quickly, efficiently." Kanyto mentioned, the wardroom assembled pausing from the unannounced intrusion by one so young when in the company of those whom fought and bled in numerous wars. "If we have at least seven teams, all taking a Ha'Tak over this area…" pointing a ring over the cluster of motherships directly over the capital, "We can make them concentrate firepower on removing the column to the rear, clearing path for both the invasion shuttles and our own Gliders."

"Our commandeered vessels would be outnumbered, outgunned and flanked on all sides. This plan would quickly be outdone by sheer numbers. The area open would quickly become a kill zone when the enemy Hat'aks recover and refocus effort." A newcomer of what would be the rag tag assembly of newly rebel Jaffa leaders. Unatha, an elderly Jaffa even compared to Hassir, with her ability to grow hair shortliving her venerable age, and despite having enough wrinkles and blemishes to make an Alteran removed from their Rejuvenation treatments blink in shock, she still stood straight, held a weapon firmly and gave the impression she would doubtlessly put up a fight on par with one younger still.

Hassir spoke further, "But if we depart from these vessels when they begin their attack, the shots would not just hit our own." She tapped on a nearby console, highlighting the enemy Hat'aks on the outer edges, "They would risk hitting their own vessels, and if dispersed by the commandeered warships, the risk would be certain, buying some time for the new fighters to do their duty. Maybe enough to warrant withdrawal. The Goa'uld worms in charge of their vessels are notable for breaking sooner in the face of possible doom then later."

"I agree, Hassir. Agin, select the best warriors you have to play mariners and meet me in Hangar Three within a quarter of an Ahn, it is time we begin." Fenrir nodded, pointing to

the commander before departing. "Victory and death." He muttered lowly to himself.

Fenrir took some of this time to return to his now shared quarters. While Denta has been silently ignoring him for several days, she hasn't been directly aggressive.

What he walked into was not a living space, it was utter desolation. The limited articles that Fenrir had furnished the room were either broken, discarded on the floor or sometimes both.

He sighed, 'The _Fury_ hit in sooner than I expected.' He followed the clutter to its source, with Denta lying next to the bed on the floor, face and hair matted with tears. When she noticed his presence, she shot up and demanded, pointing an accusatory finger at him, "Why are you staring at me, bastard!?" Quickly rising to her feet, slightly hunched and hands in fists, breathing hissing from clenched teeth.

Kaennin did his best not to laugh, but couldn't stop a smile as he said, "Your hormones are in severe flux. Are you injured at all? Hungry? Thirsty?"

He was extremely sympathetic for her. Humans reacted the most extremely to siring a Hybrid, their minds unable to control their instincts of bodily functions compared to their parents, the Alterans. Even when Kaennin had children with them, they were notoriously unpredictable for such an evolved, refined and disciplined species. Hybrids grow faster, learn faster and adapt faster. He thinks this was an evolutionary extreme of his own being passed to his descendants. The Alterans desired mankind to breed faster, among other things, and being partially human himself when exposed to the Heart of Darkness likely refined and changed this aspect of his physiology to the extreme it is now.

"I do not want anything else from you!" Denta yelled, gesturing to her gut with a hand. "The Automata says it will be ready to leave in four weeks! _Four fucking weeks!_ Why do you tell me nothing!?" And charged at him.

Fenrir did not fight as she crudely tackled him to the ground, brought her fists up and repeatedly slammed them down onto his face. It hurt, sure, but the pain was negligible and he would sooner desire her to grow weary from her chemically enduced rage then add wood to the fire by trying to restrain her. "Die! I want you to die!"

Kaennin tried _really_ hard not to laugh, but that he couldn't ignore it and he sputtered, "Pfft!" Into a full belly laugh. This only encouraged her to further violence, to her determent, as when she brought a fist across his mouth, one of his incisors cut the top of her hand open and began to bleed deeply from the new wound, shocking her to sobriety as she held the injured hand. His laughter quickly stopped as he lifted her off of him, positioned her arm up to take pressure off the wound and called the Automata in.

"Relax, relax, it will deny pressure to the blood. It was a deep cut, but one that the Apothecary could fix easily." Fenrir stated before he quickly clicked a rune on his wrist, "Ria-zar, beng-okto." Where a red Automata quickly flashed onto the teleportation pad, the machine making a quick jog up to the pair where it used a finger to scan the cut, a medical kit sliding out of the machine's forearm. Kaennin placed a hand on it, "If it does not require surgery, I can treat this, Apothecary."

"Are your certain? It can be healed in but a moment." Ria-zar inclined the Automata's head in questioning deference.

"Yes, thank you." He nodded back to the machine where it then returned to the main structure on the teleportation pad. Fenrir opened the kit, taking the disinfectant-coagulant powder and looked to Denta, "May I?"

Denta was overcome with a deep sense of shame, whether it was the realization of her actions or merely another bout of extreme bodily change, she couldn't tell, but looked away from Kaennin as she nodded and presented her injured hand.

He cupped the filangee, liberally emptying the tube of powder onto the wound, where the blood that didn't spill onto his palm quickly formed a thick, black-red scab that instantly began to make Denta want to itch it. He then asked, "Scar, no scar?" Smiling, making her give a confused look. "People are… unpredictable when it comes to whether or not they want a scar or not. I think it's a pride or mark of honor thing. So, that's a no?"

Denta rose an eyebrow as she stated, "No scar."

He took out a light green, gooey looking piece of tape from the side of the kit. As it dripped a blue fluid, he gently placed it over the scab, the squishy object taking hold quickly and becoming firm, turning a darker blue.

Kaennin smiled to her, "Should be better in a week, don't scratch at it if you can help it."

Denta looked back and said, "I'm sorry."

Kaennin gave a relieved though grim smile, "Don't be. I can understand your situation fairly well. Not to mention I, um…" He scratched his head after he placed the kit on a nearby counter. "…know I am not exactly the paragon of courtly kindness. Your rage could not have grown on fallow ground." He looked to her and shrugged, "But know I cannot apologize for being myself, but you have my regrets if I am not what you expected or desire."

She continued her silence, either unwilling or unwanting to speak further to him. Why, he didn't know, and he didn't feel it prudent to prod her, either verbally or psionically. "I will be leaving soon for Ix'Zary. In the case that worse should come to pass, I have given instruction to Ha'Gael to hyperspace to the farthest habitable planet free of Goa'uld influence. I sincerely doubt it will come to that, however." Still no response, he sighed, "Farewell."

[][[[[]

"Where's my armor? I need to kill something." Fenrir declared as he entered the Armory, various Jaffa were pressing off and onto pod like assembly lines, the armor being sealed and secured, modified to the individual person.

While Ha'Gael was equipping the simpler Apex pattern to the wider population, it will take a number of Automata to place and seal his Destroyer armor on him, the pattern still being perfected for mass fabrication. Ha'Gael did not have the various armor patterns on hand, at the time, relying on a Smith metal-mind that was relocated prior to Ha'Gael's dormancy. Thankfully, she was more than happy to temporarily restock the armor and small arms, forcing him to communicate with Ha'Gael through one of her feeds, linking his memory with her consciousness. From this, she took some of the schematics, but had to first prototype several designs, as he was not fully familiar with all of the various internal workings. This armor was just one of the more successful to original prototypes.

Save one this one vital difference in the armor he made personally, something prepared in case the worst occurs.

The helm folded around his scalp and chin, giving an odd metallic mane that surrounded his still bare face. He turned to his left, the armor, heavy and encumbering as it was, shifted with his movement, plates moving and flexing to allow for greater flexibility.

He reached out with a massive, gauntlet-clawed hand that exceeded his natural arm length and took hold of his folded particle halberd, storing it in a magnetic holster on his side. With his other, he grabbed onto the handle of what appeared in the shape of a traditional Tau'ri rifle-firearm, save replaced with a long tube of copper-like Clan-Iron and the gun itself in similar, large proportions to the newly armored titan.

He pointed the rifle in hand, the helm closing fully, the mouth featureless and the eyes angrily slanted, burning green slightly.

The targeting information from the rifle quickly connected with the armor's visor, a reticule of the current weapons point appearing. He mentally cued for the vision to increase in magnification several times, and when he was satisfied at how far he could see, he pulled the trigger, the small marble like item was pulled out of the magazine, aligned in the barrel and as it was magnetically accelerated, the forced caused the ball of metal to fold forwards and back into a small sliver-spear as long as his hand and forearm put together. All in the lapse of time it took to pull the trigger, the spear-gun launched its projectile near instantly into the opposing side of the Foundry, embedding itself in the wall.

"Fenrir." A woman addressed him by name and said man didn't need to ask who was speaking from the lack of decorum.

"Baxtza. How can help you?" Turning his mass around to face her, his voice distorted by the vocalizer.

"I would come with you, if will have me. To attack the Ha'Tak."

He narrowed his eyes skeptically, "Were you not among those to spearhead the assault on the ground?"

"I will not be missed. Please."

Jaffa were frustratingly difficult to read. Not only physically but mentally. He thought it had to do with the Symbiot, an alien mind clouding her own, somehow immune due to its immature nature. But now, he contemplated the possibility that it may not just stem from simple biology, being bound to the discipline hammered into them since infancy, being able to hide their true thoughts behind their feelings and instincts.

Either way, this made judging her reasons for the request difficult. "The position is there if you desire it, but why do you shirk at the chance to kill Ix-Chel herself?"

"I shirk at nothing." She spat back, glaring at him. "She will die, by my hand or another's, it does not matter, but right now, I desire to serve to my greatest capabilities. That is by your side."

"Very well." He nodded to her, clasping his oversize hand on her shoulder that was dainty in comparison, "Get armored fast, we leave soon."

Baxtza smirked playfully as she placed a hand on his chest, "When we get back, I'll make you wish you died in the attack." Before departing.

He silently hoped that Denta's reports of clean actions were correct. Be definitely desired what she was hinting at. He smiled to himself, placing a hand on his hip before blinking, "Where did I put that Halberd? I swear I put one here." Before cursing his terrible memory and getting another weapon.

[[[]][

"I'll not waste pointless words with you all, honorable warriors..." Fenrir began his small speech as Ha'Gael connected his armor's voice enhancer to the speak-sense in the bay, as the portals lay inactive, the crude army levied, a mix of barely armored warriors, Va'Taks, Plasma Lances, humans and Jaffa. All wanting blood, and through it, victory and true freedom. "We win today and the Goa'uld, the yoke they have spun will begin to end and you all will have your vengeance and all who stand with me will have a chance to become more then you ever were!"

There was a scattered cheer, mostly from the Jaffa, the human volunteers whom followed them too nervous to do anything but breathe.

"Let's go, we have false gods to kill." He spoke as he entered the VES, a final, uneven cheer arose from the army as they themselves readied.

[][[][[[

Iraq. 119 Kilometers South-South-East of Al-Basrah

John Sheppard looked skeptically at the entourage of scientists, chewing on a bottom lip as one dropped a case and a skinny Scot started yelling at him about one thing or another. Couldn't care, not when there was a Colonel breathing in your face.

"Seriously." O'Neil gestured to the archeological team, Daniel included and a new guy, "Whatch 'em like they were kids. Bad voodoo. Turn your back on 'em, next thing you know, they've crashed your truck in the garage. The truck is a metaphor for a career, by the way."

"Yes sir, but with all due respect, why the hell are we out-"

"If it isn't obvious enough, let me spell it out, lieutenant:" Gesturing with a hand, "Nerds." Gesturing back to Sheppard and his team, "Jocks. Do the anti-high school. Jocks protect the nerds while they do… whatever they do until they smile and yell 'Yipee! We did the thing!' where we then proceed to get said nerds the hell out of Iraq and into a nice, air conditioned lab. Or a _Golden Corral_. My hopes on the second one. Get it? Got it? Good." He waved off a questioning hand, "You'll get briefed after we get this crazy shit done with. That's all the explaining I got in me for the next week. God, I hate the middle-east." He muttered and walked to the flanks of SG-1, now in more conspicuous, standard deployment Airforce uniforms.

Sheppard shook his head and spoke to no one in particular, "If this don't stink something fierce, shit should smell like daisies." He spoke to his team, telling them to watch out for the eggheads and not let them do anything stupid. John thought, the question running and beating against his head repeatedly, 'The hell would these cats find out here? The oil better be gold tinted and make a jet go into _Ludacris speed_.'

]][

 _ **Holy balls, it has been a difficult winter .'**_

 _ **Well, I'm back now! Up comes the invasion and reclamation! But it won't happen without sacrifice!**_

 _ **And to assign exactly what a Hybrid would be like for this AU of SG, I can't help but make comparisons between them and the Primarchs from Warhammer 40k. Mature incredibly fast, abilities far above the access of common man and forged from a bloodline almost supernatural in its creation. The parallels end there. They are either born or forged, but not vat-grown and will have nowhere near the omni, heavy-metal badassery of the 18 Primarchs of the EMPRAH. They will be metal as fuck, and badasses, buuuut… well, you'll see ;)**_

 _ **Also! Yes! Rush is in this! He was the only, ONLY good part of that entire, god-forsaken show. He will be on SG doohikies and subjects early on, but Rodney absolutely will be appearing to and Rush is in no way replacing neither Rod's or Sam's genius nor their characters. He simply completes the trifecta of awesome geniuses, the optimist with a gun, the arrogant-canuk and the Machiavellian scot.**_

 _ **Hasta!**_


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

Btham spotted on her sensors several kilometers behind her Glider, Ha'Gael spewing forth dozens of Variant Environment Shuttles, either filled to the brim with warriors to board a Ha'Tak or hollow or equipped with a short range teleportation gate to spew forth the newly minted legions of her fellow freed Jaffa.

The Wolf Glider's environment was refreshingly cool, her body breaking into nervous sweats as she sped her squadron forth. 'We are outnumbered, but certainly aren't out gunned.' She breathed to herself, keeping as calm as possible.

On the other side of the system, however, she and the entirety of the fighting force coming to attack Ix-Zary, the reinforcements Ix-Chel has called for had found a reprieve from the Nebula Storms disturbing their navigation of hyperspace and quickly fell in formation behind the planet's northern polar region, hidden and deploying their troops near the capital.

Fenrir sensed an odd shift when the fresh motherships came. Though he didn't know the exact details, he cursed mentally and tensed at what the sensation could mean for him and his chances.

'The Alteran filth continue to muddle my affairs?!' He thought. He thought they all passed away into oblivion after his internment. What reason would they interfere now and instead at his reawakening? Nip the problem in the bud? 'This makes no sense, they wouldn't dare give any information or knowledge to the Goa'uld, are they so blind?!'

[][][

Lord Marshal Kabil stood before his assembled army, standing atop the highest step of the palace. "Jaffa! The enemy comes this day!" 'Our own brothers and sisters.' He thought, "They come to retake this world into their dead-god's putrid grasp!" 'They come to take back their homes and family.' "We will fight them in the fields! In the city! On the very palace I stand upon!" 'We will die, now or later, pointless and unremembered deaths.'

Kabil gripped the staff and gave a short stab in the ground with its end, trying to tame his own mind. "For the Queen! For glory! We will prevail!" He turned on a heel and faced the seated queen on her slave driven throne and knelt, "I shall lead them in the fore, my goddess."

" **Fight well, Lord Marshal**." She waved a hand.

Kabil turned again, raising a hand towards floating, sky-blotting numbers of Death Gliders and gunships, Rol'Na hovering forth from the city's walls, flanked by columns of warriors, their massive guns, prepared to shoot deadly artillery, screen the sky with anti-air power or devastate whatever lies in their path.

A gunship flew to the top of stair and allowed the Marshal to board it, the Secunde quickly telling him the status of the forces gathering and coming from the asteroid belt.

Despite the overwhelming numbers being arrayed against the opposition, he had a sinking feeling in his gut that not only were the Ix-Chel forces were going to suffer vastly despite these differences, but the festering idea that he may be fighting on the wrong side. These Jaffa have fought not only with overwhelming force when they retrieved the artefact from the main camp in the Jungle of Ghosts, but for conviction. He heard from his queen that the assailant offered allowing the Goa'uld to leave, something if Kabil was in his position would never have allowed, taking them all in surprise and killing them to the last. He wished he and his followers did so. Kabil would have likely perished, he merely had the desire to either see or know that Ix-Chel and all her children were dead.

He would sacrifice everything, absolutely everything to see it so. His life, his honor and every warrior under his command.

Then another would eventually take her place, from a land distant or close, in the end, it did not matter. Jaffa would still be enslaved. He doubted even these rebels would last long, even if they did win. Another System Lord would make use of the weakness, conquer the star system and enslave those that are left, just as Ix-Chel has so recently done, only with a fiercer zeal, no sane Goa'uld would allow a system of Jaffa free of collar to exist for long.

[][][]

Btahm and her sister squadron leaders sent signals that the enemy was in sight and prepared to attack. It was odd being the commander for once, being under the subject of Hassir for years left a kind of vacuum when someone was asking for her orders.

She spied ahead and saw over twenty Ha'Taks and hundreds of their escorts deployed, she nervously breathed from her mouth, knowing she would send several of her own people to death with the attack and regretted the need to do so.

She pressed a finger to the cheek-com, "Squadron five and six, attack the Ha'Taks to the left and right. Everyone else, clear the void of these vultures!"

The Wolf Gliders flew forth, the majority decloaking in attack formation, with some not and diving past the other squadrons, with the vast majority of the opposing Death Gliders flowing like a wave of metal against them when they revealed themselves.

"Don't let history know our sisters died in vain!" Btahm called out as she ignited her Plasma Lance and began to strike at the horde of Death Gliders, the far reach of the new weapon lighting the lead ships in green fire, the metal being instantly melted and destroyed, the Death Glider's small naquadah reactor going critical from the energy lance breaching its containment.

The enemy's Pulse weapons were fired prematurely in vain, the shot dissipating or wildly off target. Though many shots were made, and a sparse handful met only failure as they encountered a shield tough enough to take many more and only begin to show strain.

As the distance closed between the two forces, discipline of the formations broke even quicker. No longer was the need for cohesion a focus on either of their minds; for the free Jaffa, in mind was only vengeance and freedom, to the forces of Ix-Chel, fear if they failed their goddess.

"Break and attack at will! Send these bastards screaming to the underworld!" Btahm ordered.

[][][

"We are coming up on the Ha'Tak! The Gliders have engaged the enemy and claimed two Ha'Taks, the Death Gliders are being contested as we speak! Prepare for impact!" The pilot declared, decloaking the VES, ignoring the heavy shield of the mothership and ramming into the central, golden pyramid of the vessel.

Fenrir punched the ramp opening, quickly running to the bulkhead, the vacuum caused by violent decompression being denied to him from the magnetic lock of his armor to the vessel, and caused a great pull at his feet as he charged forward to the door further into the ship's bowls.

As the eight other warriors went into the pried open corridor that would lead into the vessel, Fenrir sent a mental que to message the other team leaders, whom all sent back a quick positive back to him that they boarded and are making way to the command deck.

Fenrir stepped into the corridor, letting go of the door he pried open with his strength.

"Leave none alive between us and the bridge!"

[][][

Hassir stared anxiously at the inactive portal's empty frame. She and the warriors behind her, clad in alien armor and weapons that were extremely powerful and cousins to staves used only recently, were faring less then she was. All were nervous, all feared at what may happen if they fail, all felt the full weight of the galaxy on their shoulders. They could take it however, and she spotted some distance away the human militia either vomiting or some throwing their weapons to the ground and running. She did notice that the ones who grew sickly from the stress stayed though. Not that it helped her opinion on them.

As she turned her head back front, her bones jumped in her body as the portal came to life, the outer rings spinning; faster and faster until they were just a blur, flicks and tongues of crimson lightning licking end to end of the portal until it reached its peak of activation and the portal came forth like a smaller, red Chapa'ai. "FORWARD!" Hassir yelled back to the column behind her.

As her foot crossed the threshold, the portal 'leant', as if her body was pulled unknowingly by it until she crossed it fully. The transition from a starship to planetside was only a second or two, but in that time, she saw the stretching of her memories and consciousness, unlike that of a Chapa'ai which was similar to seeing stars dance before your eyes as they sped you down a one-sided path. This was odd, she saw the vomiting human, look up at her after he expelled his midday meal in stress and hiss "Shol'Va."

Then reality returned to her, the sun of the system temporarily overwhelming her shocked sense of sight from the constant, dim light of Ha'Gael's innards. She pressed forward though, leaving the ramp of the VES in an ill-remembered daze, her body's combat instincts taking control while her mind was bewildered and found cover in a nearby boulder and an forced herself to focus. She shook her head, seeing the warriors follow behind her in short measure through the portal and become more bewildered then she was.

One of the issues she brought to Fenrir were the effects of these short range gates being extremely debilitating. He stated that the one found in the Crypt was misaligned, requiring great effort to rematerililize their patterns, as well as being ill-maintained. He also said that the more they are used, the less the effects will be, making Hassir recall the first times she used the Chapa'ais.

She pressed a Summa'Goa sigil on her right brace for 'Communication', and she asked the pilot in the nearby VES, "Report! Where's the capital?!"

"South from here, leader. The armies are marching and will be upon us in less than a quarter of an hour. We cannot engage Cloak until the portal is deactivated." The woman informed inside.

"There's two of you in there? One of you get their hide to defend the ship from Glider attacks! Get to work, warriors!" Turning off the com and walking to the gathering battalion, more aware in the moments she spared them to regather their wits. "Jaffa! _Kree!_ " Forcing the group to attention. "You!" Pointing to the nearest warrior, "You will organize the sisters and brothers of the regiment to form up in four columns, I will take the warriors we have now and engage the enemy." Swiping an arm out, dismissing the selected troop and lifting her plasma lance up, "To war!" She yelled to her column, being greeted by a united, short howl like cheer.

She turned around and began a brisk run south, her eyes adjusting and seeing the wavering, heat stressed lines of the Capital and its walls past the plains. Closer still being the thin, forward profile of Rol'Na. They were nestled in a wood-line that bordered the Capital, when they engaged, Hassir sincerely hoped the lumber mongers of the city would find alternative occupations, considering that the Rol'Na would attempt to level every particle of forest nearby.

They had the enemy and its stronghold surrounded, their technology was superior in every way but not invulnerable. 'This is not a one sided battle for one.' Hassir thought, 'Let this mark the beginning of the end of all Goa'uld.' She thought, and briefly closing her eyes, treating it almost like a prayer.

Above, in the terminus of Ix-Zary's atmosphere, the prayers were unheeded as treachery boiled underfoot.

[][][][][

"Ahh!" An Apex warrior yelled out in her death throes as volleys of pulse blasts destroyed her weakened shields and rent her armor, the chest being nearly hollowed out and the face on one side was melted, welding the destroyed helm partially to the dying warrior's true visage beneath it. As she began to fall back, death claiming her, Fenrir held her up just a moment longer, his Destroyer armor take hold of her as he pointed his Spear-Gun at the closest enemy Jaffa and fired, the projectile pinning her to the hull's side out of cover by her neck, head ajar slightly from the acceleration rending it from the neck's tenuous hold.

Fenrir turned around, his back face the enemy as weapons fire impacted powerful shielding. He made quick assessment of the injured warrior, seeing that she has already passed and the wounds too grave to make recovery the least bit possible.

He dropped the dead warrior as he felt his shields flicker dead and a pulse bolt hit his heavily armored back, turning him around and extending his free hand out, telekinetically grasping the closest assailant, flying her towards his grasp and when she was in hand, slammed her to the floor, stepped on her chest and quickly ripped her head from her shoulders, throwing the decapitated head to the end of the corridor that the enemy has pinned them down in.

He charged forward, feeling his bloodlust take control and he gave a battle roar that threatened to take him to the precipice of animal-barbarism, to let go of reason and logic and delve in the blood and bile of all who stand in front of him, tear off his armor, taste, smell and delve in the sensation of their deaths.

He felt the roar quake his jaw muscles, bones unlatching instinctively as his jaw extended farther then naturally available for any human and teeth, sheathed in gums behind his maulers, slid out in the bestial throng.

A blurring of awareness followed, and what conscious spark left was a blazing desire between gorging talonned fingers into enemy bowls, necks, eyes and ripping out limbs to running and repeating the process again to another victim. What focus was had was making sure he did not fall upon an ally, easily identified by their armor and weapons.

"Fenrir!"

Kaennin finally reemerged from the blood-rage, staring down at a pile of meat, bone and viscera in front of a view screen to the void, in his hands were not only the deep reds and blacks of blood, but the light blue of the bile of a Goa'uld. He quickly pieced together what he had done, and while Baxtza's helmed face betrayed no emotion, he could sense a sliver of terror, even without his psionic senses.

He killed the Goa'uld on the bridge, then decided to go 'digging' for the creature itself within its host.

He stifled his heavy panting, the face plate of the helm retracting to reveal orange, reptilian eyes to Baxtza. "My regrets, dear. That… hasn't happened to me in some time."

Baxtza gave a short nod, "We have seized control of command, sealed the deck from access for the moment and have begun firing on enemy Ha'Taks."

"Good…" He panted, "Very good."

After a second, Fenrir noticed that the nine warriors he charged with were cut down to three others, including Baxtza. His mouth was agape, "What happened to the others?" Feeling foolish from the question he waved his hand, "Pay no mind." He angrily interjected, "Just get these worm-suckers killed."

He _knew_ that he didn't kill them. It's simple enough to focus his bloodlust on certain traits in battle and follow through. While this hasn't happened in some time, it's far from the first. The enemy must have been incredibly numerous to dispatch them.

"Lord Fenrir…" Baxtza asked as the ship rocketed slightly from returning fire, breaking him from his musings. "What is your plan for after this?"

He spotted the two other warriors were heavily focused on the conversation as he replied, "I reclaim my empire, and kill every single Goa'uld in the universe."

"And what of the Jaffa? What will happen to us?"

Picking up on the subject, he nodded and shrugged, "You may do as you wish, of course."

"Of course." Baxtza replied before she quickly took out a Particle Halberd and swung it as it deployed.

Fenrir growled in frustration as he tried to back away from the strike, and had it bite into his lower abdomen, cutting through his armor like garbage-steel. He gripped the end of the shaft, feeling the hyper heated edge's bite as it cauterized the wound it made, a cleave up, biting through the bottom left of his ribcage. He looked to the other two warriors and cursed as they pointed their weapons at Fenrir as well.

"What are you doing!?"

"I thank you, for helping me and my fellow Jaffa." Baxtza sung in the sweetest voice he's heard from her. "But we will no longer be lashed to pathetic worms!" Fenrir felt her hand back to the trigger mechanism, and mentally keyed for his armor's most recent addition to activate.

As Baxtza pulled the trigger, the Particle Barrage sent the armored man flying back and impacting against the wall of the deck. She strode over to the supposed dead man and her eyes widened to see that the armor, smoldering from the ruin she had hoped to impose on its wearer, was devoid of Fenrir.

"Baxtza! What now?" One of her warriors asked.

"Now we save our people. Continue firing on our target, evasive maneuvers!"

[][[[

Ix-Chel saw the battle in heavens in a holographic display being projected in the palace's throne room. Her immediate expedition forces were not only being stolen and used against her remaining ships, and diminished by friendly fire, but also being picked apart one by one from the gliders they are using.

She smiled and swiped a hand across the control platform, tapping on a nearby gem. " **L'tar, begin your attack.** "

[]][]

Fenrir blinked, breathing out in a shutter as he fell against the bulkhead of the Ha'Tak's corridor. Blood pooled in his mouth and out snarling teeth as he realized that his Recall device was a failure. He was teleported in the same confines of the ship he wished to escape from.

He gripped his wound, using his free hand to pick himself on anything that would offer leverage.

He was only in the browned red seal-cloth worn under a suit of armor, a simple steel knife in the belt at his hip. He must either do two things, fight his way through enemy jaffa in said under dress to the breach, but would not survive the hard-vacuum exposure for long and should not trust either the pilot's skills or allegiances to pick him up in the void. The other option being fighting through enemy Jaffa back to the bridge, kill three Apex armored traitors and continue in the plan of attack.

Did the Alterans somehow contact Baxtza and convince her to finally betray him or was this merely the cusp of her plan's fruition?

He focused on feeling outwards with his psionics, detecting the hundreds arrayed against him and the lone trio, isolate from the rest.

The com unit on his cheek beeped before he heard Kanyto say, "My lord, all are presently accounted for. Baxtza attempted to claim victory as well, but wished to hear it from you before I believe her."

Fenrir smiled, gasping slightly, pressing a hand to the unit, "If I do not call back in ten minutes, I order you to attack the vessel I am on. Baxtza has betrayed us."

Kanyto was silent for a long moment before she asked, "Are you injured?"

"Nothing I won't recover from. My pride will be repaired presently. Ten minutes, Godkiller." Removing his hand from the com.

"Well, better get started." He sighed, running a sleeve over his mouth, unsheathing the knife and opening the door closest to him.

[][][

Hassir waited patiently for the Rol'Na to cross over the tumbled tree, her cloak holding fast against the view of the columns of infantry flanking the vehicle.

She slowly paced, lowly crouched and weapon shrunk into its smaller form as she gripped the side of the armor, lifting herself up, looking about for recognition of detection and then proceeding to the hatch near the rear, ripping the latched, secured door, she blasted the two occupants inside and decloaked, declaring to her warriors, "Tal shak!" The Apex wearers appearing from thin air and firing extremely practiced, aimed volleys of teal-green plasma bolts at the column as she hopped inside the tank and slaved the Rol'Na weapon forward, turning the weapon around and proceeded to charge to the nearest armored column. Reaching a hand behind her, pressed her palm to the firing mechanism, the shots from the Staff-Cannon on the Rol'Na being expelled in such speed and numbers, the trees between her and the target were nothing but dust.

As soon as it was cleared, she could see that the Rol'Na was damaged on its flank but not inoperable, turning its gun to her.

She yelled out a curse as she smashed the button before hopping out of the commandeered vehicle and rushing to a nearby boulder. The storm of pulse fire cleared the nearby foliage and soldiers much in the same way as she had just so recently done, save that warriors still lived, albeit barely.

Hassir knew that Apex armor was powerful, but she doubted even a Goa'uld's personal shield would stand up to such firepower for long. She saw only several out of the dozens behind her lying down, either dead or injured, she did not know nor did she have the ability to find out, sprinting towards the tank as its main gun cooled down for a new volley. She threw herself at the Rol'Na, reverse end of her Lance pointed to the machine, the particle cannon expelling its deadly charge to and through the Rol'Na, killing both its occupants and setting the reactor to explode violently, consuming Hassir in the explosion.

Moments later, she emerged from the smoke and flames, limping slightly as she jogged to her group of warriors.

"Kree! Forward while we still-!" A squadron of Death-Gliders sped past their line and fired at the VES they had deployed from, exploding into a blue column of fire and smoke.

"Damnation!" Hassir cursed.

[][][][]

Fenrir slid his foot under the fallen Va'Tok weapon and kicked it up, firing it at the Jaffa swiftly after it was in his hands. When he gathered the attention of the pack of enemies gathered at the outside of the door, he reached out telekinetically and stopped the seven or so warriors in place.

In his weakened state, keeping the warriors still like this was taxing to the extreme. Bullets, buttons and nonliving items were always more readily able to accept his mental manipulation, sentient creatures were above and beyond extraneous of exertion to control.

He strode forward, arm outstretched, dropping the staff and coming towards them with the knife.

Behind the door, Baxtza and her pair of fellow unbelievers stared at the bulkhead as screams were heard from it. Several at a time, women in utter pain and torment as they quickly died off, one by one until none remained.

Baxtza turned to the pair of allies, helm receding from her head, "Keep focused! Put power into weapons!"

A warrior looked up from her console and declare, "Leader! There are twenty four new motherships! Coming our way!"

Baxtza's eyes opened wide in horror, "Where did they come fro-!?" She was cut off as the security door was ripped from its moorings and flew across the room, Fenrir speeding to the closest warrior and stopping them from taking aim with their lance. He grunted as he caught the end of the lance, wretched it from her grasp, fingered the trigger for the particle cannon and saw her launch upwards towards the ceiling, a hole visible through her chest and back.

The other warrior shot at the nearby council, missing Fenrir, but close enough he felt the heat off the plasma burn away hair on the side of his face and head. He took the plasma lance and fired it towards the woman, the green bolt scoring home, once against shield and then twice against the helm's face, killing her instantly.

Baxtza, clever as she was, was on him by the time her comrade was hit, the Particle Halberd cleaving through the opposing end of the lance and forcing him to back off as she spun the weapon around, threatening to scalp him.

Fenrir thrust the end of the plasma lance forward, triggering it within the limit of her shields, but barely nicked her chest as it fired, leaving only the area only rent and burnt, not harming it's wearer.

She smacked him in the head with the opposing side of the halberd for his failure, the odd strength of the Jaffa dazing him momentarily from the strike.

She fell back as he crudely attempted to hit her back against her open flank, only to stare down the wrong end of the Halberd's barrel.

Fenrir knew it was nearly impossible to do so, but he thrust his telekinetic might outwards in vain hope to deflect or stop the attack of deadly particles.

What happened was entirely unexpected, gaining a sort of physical feedback from the deflection, he was shot backwards as it hit his hastily spun barrier and hit the ceiling in a similar fashion as the warrior he dispatched upon entering.

Save, he was still alive.

Quickly, he landed on his feet, rushing forth to attack her, her Halberd exhausted of ammunition and could not bring it to attack in close quarters fast enough, Fenrir slamming his fist into her face that made her spin around to her back. Fenrir wrapped an arm around her waist, lifting her up, then slammed her into the floor with a satisfying *FHUMP!*, bouncing her to her back, bones breaking in her right arm above her elbow.

Baxtza still had some fight in her however, as she looked up and kicked at Fenrir's wound, strength magnified by her armor made him yell out. She rose quickly, thrusting her workable fist towards his face.

Fenrir caught the fist and threw her across the bridge with it, taking out his knife as he charged forward while she was still stunned.

Victory was taken from his grasp as one of the fresh Ix-Chel motherships attacked the commandeered vessel, the shields buckling. The bridge's walls, panels and floor panels that carried any power to the deck exploded, throwing him as well as Baxtza.

Fenrir groaned in frustration as he landed, smoke filling his vision, shaking his head as he saw the bridge in tatters, loose debris covering the floor and various corners and edges from the hull penetrating the walls, deck and ceiling.

"Fen...hah… Fenrir…" He heard Baxtza moan out in pain.

He unsteadily walked over to its source, see a jut of metal stabbing into the burned hole of her armor. He should be smiling or laughing at this. He didn't want to though.

He knew what he had to do.

"Fenrir…" She repeated.

"Yes. Fenrir." He stated calmly. "I thought you wanted to kill Ix-Chel and bring freedom to your people."

"I-I thought…" She spat blood onto the deck and began coughing.

"I know." He replied simply. He then knelt next to her, "Whatever your reason, you damn well nearly succeeded. And were brave to attempt to do it to me." Running a knuckle across her hairline.

"I'm…" She coughed from trying to talk, "I'm dying."

"Yes, you are."

"I need… your aid. Please, _please, I have to see my children again._ You can save me."

"I know." He replied in nearly a whisper. "Tell me, can you see me ruling this system and the others beyond it?"

"Yes! Yes! I can see it!" She replied desperately.

"And can you see your children, safe, happy and full of belly under my rule?"

"Y-yes! YES!"

He looked down at her, pausing a moment before he ran a hand across her cheek and spoke, "Then you may die, knowing truth." Grabbing her by the neck and breaking her it in an eye blink.

The one moment prior to her death was frozen on her face, the barely recognized horror and shock.

'It did not have to come to this.' He thought, placing a hand over her eyes, 'I would have made you my wife, freed you of the Goa'uld.' Closing his own, he scanned for the VES, not sensing the pilot or the vessel (likely destroyed in the attack).

He stood up, taking the nearby halberd for his own, 'And my salvation lies in the Gliders I spent so much time improving upon. The irony of this day is not lost on me.'

Pressing a finger to his com unit, "Kanyto, I have regained control. I will depart the vessel as soon as I am able, but will try to send the Ha'Tak to the new battlegroup and set the power plant to critical if I can. Get yours to do so as well and evacuate planetside, understood."

"She is dead then?" Kanyto asked, voice still.

"Yes."

"We will attempt to thin the new attacker's numbers from your recommendation."

Fenrir had to move past several columns that had fallen through the ceiling-deck in the hopes to find one working console. It flickered with barely sustained life, placing his hand to it and imputing his instructions.

[][][][][

"Get to cover! The artillery is coming down!"

Rol'Na cannons, spiked with number of neutrons can make the pulse shot from the weapon come down in an arc over vast distances. Slows its pace, but when it hits, it's an explosion to rival orbital weaponry.

"Hassir! Hassir!" Figa called out for her leader, searching the debris of the Rol'Na she had claimed.

They had regrouped and advanced into the plains between the edge of the forest and the Capital, removing the reason for Rol'Na artillery hitting the VESs while the Gliders above were focused on them.

The plains were a death-field however, being outnumbered in such terrain was a barely tolerable alternative to staying still and letting oblivion consume them from afar.

They had to rush forward, and hopefully enough bodies will be made to punch a hole in the army to get through, clear out the anti-air weapons that are nested inside and outside the city.

Pushing away a plate of steel, it revealed the broken, bloody armor of the old warrior, her plasma lance was broken in half and leaking fuel on the dry ground.

Shrinking the lance, she gripped Hassir by under her shoulders and pulled her out of the wreck, feeling her chest irk as Hassir began screaming in pain, her legs mangled and hidden under the loose metal.

"Leave me child." Hassir said breathlessly. "Go… use my death to find… victory."

"Be silent, old woman! You can still hold a weapon! You'll not die for the cause while you can yet serve it!" Figa declared, pushing Hassir's back to the Rol'Na's wrecked main hull, placing her own lance into Hassir's hands.

Wizened eyes appeared from a broken helm, weary and worried, "I'll not leave you defenseless."

Figa pulled out a long, copper tube from her back, pushed a button at one end and saw it deploy outwards and below, giving a grip, a metal finger like trigger and a spyglass at its top. Figa looked hesitantly down the spyglass, taking a moment to adjust, find an enemy then- *PAH!* went the Spear gun as it impaled a Crone-Guard by her naval, forcing to fall over in pain.

'Good. Suffer, you slattern.' Figa thought, focusing on nearby adversaries she could pick off with her new found range.

"We need-agh!" Hassir cried out as she tried to sit up further, "We need to form up an organized force to counter the overwhelming power! We cannot dispatch them in mere single servings!"

"If dreams were poppies, Hassir!" Figa yelled as she shot another Crone-Guard.

"We _must_ rally what forces we have left on this world! Here or someplace near! We cannot wait!"

"They'll be hit with artillery the moment they poke head out of brush behind us! We need to get rid of at least some of the Rol'Na or the forces that survive will be too small to count on one hand!" Taking another shot.

Hassir cursed her earlier optimism. It made her foolishly naïve. "We are undone." She whispered, "No matter the technology or will, we cannot dissolve such vast numbers."

"Shut up, crone!" Figa declared. "Fight! Choose a target and fire! Then do it again! And again!" Even as Figa said this, she saw an oncoming Death Glider, coming right for them. She aimed for the aircraft, but locking to it manually was difficult, Fenrir advised that Apex armor would soon interface with sight and be able to target fasting moving things. What she didn't expect was to see it explode suddenly in green flame as a copper Wolf Glider sped through its smoke. 'I swear, if that's Bthahm, I will let her have her way with me when we win!'

Bthahm banked, targeting five separate artillery vehicles, and sent out her phason torpedoes. The speed was drastically reduced in atmosphere, but the end result was the same. The Rol'Na and the infantry that accompanied them were consumed in a bright, white explosion. A warning appeared in the canopy, stating that her ammunition of the weapons was now depleted.

She looked to the pair, knowing that if she didn't back away from the city, she'd be targeted. "You're welcome." She pressed her squadron communicator, "The air space is cleared still? How many Ha'Taks are left?"

"Yes, commander. Only two are left, but are heavily damaged, the others were consumed in the suicide attacks. Two wings are in the process of killing them before they open a hyperspace window."

"Good, proceed planetside, Have Second Wing target Rol'Na and assist with the ground invasion, everyone else focus on hunting Death Gliders."

"We only have half the squadrons left, doing so will take some time."

Btham sighed, hearing what she desperately wanted _not_ to hear. "Do what you can, we have a duty to protect land troops. Avoid the range of air defenses of the city. Boarding shuttles are on way to supplement the transport nodes that have been destroyed."

[][][

"My Queen." Kabil's voice interrupted her rest, coming from a nearby console.

Ix-Chel swiped her hand over it, activating two way communication. " **What is it, my Marshal**?"

"Your fleet has been destroyed."

She opened her eyes fully, sitting up from laying on her side and demanded through clenched teeth. " **Explain how nearly fifty Ha'Taks were destroyed by but mere fighters and a handful of boarding parties**?"

"I will explain nothing." The Jaffa commander spoke spitefully, surprising her. "I will die soon, know that with my last moments of reason, I spit upon you, your kind and all that you commanded my hands to do. I am merely glad that I hadn't been yet taken a wife or family, the idea that they would continue to serve you makes me ill."

Ix-Chel's eyes flashed and she growled, rose from her seat and smashed her fists together repeatedly to the console, crushing it. She looked to the nearby Crone-Guards, " **Rally Gliders and Gunships around the Palace to clear way for my Tel'tak's departure! I am leaving this blasted system!** "

[][]

"Oh piss on my balls…" He cursed in Gjin-Ai as the Death Glider began to shake as he entered the atmosphere. "I'd sooner die under long torture then suffer the insult of being killed in reentry."

As he sped planetside, he felt relief wash over him as the turbulence and fire died down, pushing a finger to his cheek, "This is Fenrir, and I am going to join your assault on the surface, am proceeding down with a stolen Death Glider."

Bthahm spoke, "Should be easy to spot you. All enemy air forces are gathering at the city."

Fenrir scrunched his brows together, "How far away are land forces to the city?"

"Not close enough to stop her retreat."

As he was close enough to the planet to spot the city, he saw the array of flying craft over the city, swarming and circling over it like carrion.

He wished he could order a fighter strike on the palace, but doing so would suffer absolute casualties. The Goa'uld may be fools, but they certainly know how to make a thorough defense screen of fire.

Then an idea struck him, making him smile. He turned his Glider's direction towards the city, thanking his own misfortune.

"Change of plans. Let me know when that Tel'Tak is near the palace. I may be in stolen piece of dung, but this dung is the only thing that can get past the air defenses and a chance of stopping Ix-Chel before she flies off."

][[][]

"Damned armor!" Hassir cursed as Figa walked with her, being carried in a stretcher consisting of two staff weapons and a tunic. "If…" She coughed, "if a Jaffa made it, it wouldn't have failed this spectacularly!"

"You can make your own after victory." Figa smiled down to her.

"Hah, it'll be hard enough to function absent legs…" Denoting the nub of limbs below her knees. "let alone work metal or use it."

The two jaffa carrying the master dropped her off near a newly stopped VES, being used as a forward base, new warriors teleporting in and being organized. Not only jaffa, however, as a red automata quickly came to Hassir's side and exclaimed, "Oh my word! How long has she been in this state?"

Figa shook her head, "Not ten minutes."

"Good, I will begin treatment immediately."

Bending over, but was taken by the armored chest piece of Hassir as she glared at the machine and ordered, "Do not dare administer pain killers! Whatever you do, I will do it awake, clear headed, and a true Jaffa, machine!"

"U-Uh as you wish." 'These people are as violent as they are crazed.' He thought.

Figa looked up at an Apex warrior as she approached, helm and chest armor decorated in blue paint as she rushed to Hassir's side and pulled off her helm. "Master!" Kanyto gasped, "What happened?!"

"War, nothing more and nothing less." Hassir chuckled but then hissed in pain as the Automata began peeling the cloth covering both her amputations, seared close from the charged end of lances.

"Will she be alright?" Kanyto asked the automata, concern overflowing the question to such a point it made the jaffa master roll her eyes.

"I will be fine, child. Go on, I'll not have you see me during such weakn- AGHH!" Hassir was cut off when the Automata began operating, peeling off burnt flesh with one hand and applying a monitoring agent to the closest functioning nerve in the stump, monitoring her vitals.

Whilst doing this, the automata swiveled its head to face Kanyto, "The jaffa has ordered me to not administer pain deniers! Do not attack this unit!"

Kanyto narrowed her eyes angrily at the machine, "Make certain she lives. If she doesn't…" She shook her head slowly to the machine and walked away to the front.

As she made it to the clearing, a jaffa ran to her and pressed a hand to her chest in a hasty salute to her new status. "Godkiller, we have taken in an enemy that has surrendered. He is requesting to see the leader of this force."

Fenrir, being in space still, was not available, though she was hesitant to decide her specific position in the chain of command, if she was still a part of it or high on it at all. "Uh, very well, take me to him."

The walk was short, a circle of warriors surrounding a single, massive jaffa. Hands bound, his armor was black, the usual Crone-Helm of Ix-Chel's army was replaced instead with a dog's or wolf's, eyes sapphire like and bright, shifting its gaze to her.

"You are in command?" He asked.

"No, but I am the only thing able to be spared. Speak quickly." Kanyto declared.

The helm's plates retracted to reveal the man's face, "I am Kabil, Lord Marshal of Ix-Chel's armies." He then dropped to both knees, "I surrender to your judgement without condition and ask my execution be as swift as possible."

Kanyto scoffed, "You have betrayed your god? Only to ask for death?"

"False god." Looking past the tree line to the capital. "Hopefully, soon to be dead false god. I asked to be judged for my crimes against my brother and sister Jaffa, for all I have done for her. The only reasonable thing for me now is death, a death to mark the Jaffa's freedom and to absolve me fully of my crimes as I pass to the next world."

Kanyto stared at him. _The_ lord marshal was asking to be killed for what he has done to other jaffa. It was odd, certainly and this smelt too good to be true coming from the man who leads her enemies armies. It could be that the man is a trap, or a deceiver, merely donning the marshal's armor and claiming to be such. Whatever it is, she knew she could not make judgments on him and declared, "Strip and search him, then bind him, have the Apothecary scan him to make certain of no internal anomalies, and if he is safe, take him to Ha'Gael and imprison him."

[][][

"The air space is cleared, for the moment." Ix-Chel's First Prime stated, "The forces gathered should be enough to clear your path out of the planet's constraints and open a hyperspace window."

Ix-Chel turned towards her and nodded slightly, " **You and all those who die this day, I shall guide through** _ **Xibalba**_ **to the place of paradise**."

The prime placed her fist over her chest and bowed her Crone-helmed head and said, "Eternal gratitude, my goddess."

Ix-Chel strode to the center of the room, looking up through the palace's roof and saw the hovering Tel'Tak. As she pressed the center gem that activated the rings around her, she yelled out in anger as the Tel'Tak was repeatedly struck with Staff-Cannon fire, exploding, showering the area in debris, Ix-Chel narrowly diving out of the way of a piece. " **KILL THE ATTACKER**!"

Before she ordered so, however, several Gliders and nearby AA batteries opened fire, tearing apart a single wing of the craft, tumbling towards the metropolis below, cleaving through stone buildings and huts before it landed.

[][[[]

Fenrir coughed several times as he kicked at the cockpit's hatch, making it fly open. He quickly jumped out of it, taking cover behind some nearby ruble.

He deployed his halberd, spotting through the smoke a gathering crowd of people, men, women, and children.

Fenrir stood, pointing the end of the weapon at the crowd, even knowing its ammunition was expended. "If you wish to kill me, I assure you, it won't be easy."

One of the women walked forward from the line of assembled civilians, so were human but many were jaffa and bore the mark of a three pointed triangle representing a set of peeks of the previous Goa'uld of the system. "You fight Ix-Chel?"

"I do, as do many other Jaffa." He nodded to her, but kept his eyes darting from one end of the crowd to the other, if any approached that seemed the least bit proactive, he would begin cutting the people down until they ran off.

"You destroyed her ships? Killed many of the Goa'uld in the city a week ago?" She continued.

"I have. And I would go now to finish off the beast. Now will you all depart, or must I start carving a path through this mob starting with you?" Fenrir demanded.

She wordlessly backed away, keeping her hands visible, molding back to the crowd and ushering people nearby out of the way quietly.

Fenrir began to walk towards the mass of people, whom quickly backed away and cleared a path for him to walk along uncontested.

He still kept a cautious eye about him as he began walking down, but his gaze focused past the people and saw a formation of Jaffa approach, marching down a wide path of stair that led to the lower level of the city that he now inhabited.

"Out of the way!" Fenrir ordered to everyone nearby, analyzing the group of Jaffa for approach tactics.

He was unarmored, weapon limited only to close quarters and he was going to have to confront what looked like fifty troops or more. Fenrir smiled, in Gjin-Ai, "Ah, I have my bi-monthly suicide mission." 'Get to the palace, get to the wretched queen and kill everyone in the way. Limited arms, limitless enemies. Perfect!'

Fenrir reached a hand back towards the crash, telekinetically gripping all loose bits of rubble he could summon, taking the hand back, lifting the improvised projectiles and sending them towards the oncoming formation.

The Jaffa quickly broke form from seeing the oncoming boulders, running to the nearest bit of cover that could block what was thrown, others were smashed or crushed under them. They claimed only a few lives, but were enough to disperse them, buying time as well as providing useful cover in order to buy space enough to engage the enemy.

" _Kree!_ " A Crone-Guard ordered her nearby troops, many of them opening fire at him, forcing him to cover.

"Wouldn't be fun if it was easy…" He looked to one of the Jaffa, and using his psionics, lifted it up and quickly smashed her with it. As he was moving to a new set of cover, he willed a nearby loose piece of building to protect his flank as he ran forward.

As he charged forward, Fenrir looked on in surprise as one of the woman in his path was struck with a Va'Tok from behind him. At first, he thought some Hierarchy troops breached the city without his knowing, but then heard, "To the Palace! To the end of the Crone!" Followed by a chorus like roar of agreement from nearly everyone else.

Fenrir smiled as he drove into the enemy, dropping his cover, grabbing his halberd with both hands and cleaved downwards on a nearby Jaffa.

The flood of peasants, merchants, priestesses, every downtrodden human and jaffa railed against the oncoming warriors of the Queen of Crones, overwhelming them in numbers with knives, stones and bare hands alongside Fenrir.

"Forward!" Fenrir yelled, cutting down another pair of jaffa.

Just as the current of jaffa were defeated and began to trickle back up the stair, the wall at the top of it exploded inwards, blasts of plasma flying through the smoke.

The crowd of civilians stopped and stared as a cabal of apex armored warriors ran in and began to assess the breach of the wall, spotting the civilians.

Fenrir quickly rose both of his arms and yelled out, "Kree! They're helping us!"

The nearest warrior looked back to her group and ordered, "Secure the area!" Walking down the stair, helm receding back.

The barefaced Jaffa nodded to Fenrir, whom clasped his free hand on her shoulder, "What's the attacks status?"

"We are making breaches all over the walls, several units have made a breach in the air defenses and sending in VESs to teleport further troops within the city." She replied quickly.

Fenrir smiled, "Then we all push ahead, cut off the head of the _Olha-Gai_ , the organs would fail soon after."

He knew a part of that didn't translate right, but she received the main point of it, looking back to her squad and ordering, "Everyone prepare for the charge ahead! We're going to head to the crone herself!"

Fenrir asked the team, "Any of you have a spare cartridge for the particle cannon?"

One of the cabal members retracted the ammo from her lance and presented it him, "Here, my lord."

Fenrir chuckled, "You'll be needing that, warrior. I'll not deprive the troops I command of resources they require." He shrunk his halberd and took up a nearby Va'Tok and yelled back to the horde of civilians, "Come now! We have worm possessed bastards that need killing!"

[][[][][

Despite the repeated attempts to evacuate with either a ring-glider or another Tel'Tak, both extremely rare in her arsenal, none could find way since the enemy had broken through her Capital's walls, their main troops having enough firepower to destroy the vehicle from afar.

Besides, even if a ring-glider could pick her up, they had no hyperspace capabilities, and the system's chapa'ai was destroyed, or buried under the Ha'Tak's crash on the Forest of Ghosts.

Now, all she could do was wait. Wait until the first enemy showed itself, attack with all her might.

It was at these moments where she cursed not having human servants. She could leave her current host, use one of the humans and hide amidst the refuse that flee to vile attacker's waiting arms.

As much as the idea sickened her, one must do everything they can to survive. She would then spawn a clutch of children, someplace safe, then take back a ship with them.

That option was not in her reach.

And she may die from it, or worse.

Her First Prime rushed across the palace's main room to her throne, knelt at her feet and said, "My queen! They are at the steps! Our troops cannot hold them at bay for long! We must-!"

" **You will fight to the last! Die fighting the enemy, or die by my hand and be eternally damned**!" She grabbed the kneeling Prime by the neck and threw her to the floor.

The two guards at the door opened fire but then quickly perished, shot from multiple blasts, one falling dead or another dropping off the ledge.

In stormed several alien armored warriors, holding an odd perversion of the Va'Tok, blasting apart the downed First Prime, but stopped at Ix-Chel she deployed her shield.

" **Damnable jaffa! I am your god**!"

One of the warriors approached Ix-Chel then swung the end of her staff through the shield and smacking her to the ground.

"Stop!" Fenrir ordered. Running up to the warrior's side, "Bind her, take her to Ha'Gael and tell her to prepare one of the labs for specimen testing. You:" Pointing to the other warrior nearby, "Get all able warriors you wish, clear every room, every closet, every particle of this place. If they do not surrender, kill them."

Ix-Chel looked up at their leader and spoke, "Please, if you release me…" Her voice now human, "release me and I will see you rewarded with riches, worlds, slaves and all the power you could ever desire!"

Fenrir chuckled and shook his head, "Wait on that order, warrior!" Looking to the System Lord, "Bind her and bring her to the top of the stair with me."

Doing as commanded, the trio walked, and in one dragged, to the stair top of the palace, in full sight of the revolting civilians and worn, bloodied men and women taken aboard Ha'Gael and at his side since the beginning, gesturing to the bound false goddess being held to view. " _WE ARE FREE_!" He declared to the masses beneath and they all yelled out in joyous victory.

Fenrir smiled at them, knowing that this moment will be remembered for years, maybe even generations from now. They would indulge this evening, in wine, song and affection alongside families mourning and weeping for the dead, some cursing his name or another's for the loss of their son, daughter, wife, husband and any other relation, be they close or distant.

But in this moment, _these minutes_ of uncaring euphoria caused from struggle and blood…

… they truly are free of all blight in this reality.

Fenrir breathed in through his nose before he continued with, "All here are welcome aboard Ha'Gael! The womb of this victory! To live, celebrate whilst unmanned machinery remakes this city of decadence into a monument to all the universe of those who have struggled, fought, and live against the tyranny of false gods! Two days hence;…" He breathed in again, holding up a finger a thumb to the hushed crowd, "I shall find a replacement for the symbiotes that plague the jaffa with weakness and worry, and terrify the humans with death and enslavement! Two days! Then all dependence and fear from her…!" gesturing to the Queen of Crones, "and all those like her will be ended! Now! Clear the city! Take to the teleporters! Go to Ha'Gael with safety and rejoice in fully belly and safety! And soon enough return to this very spot and see the cesspool of decadence, bondage and fear unmade!"

The cheer that followed his words was unexpectedly high pitched, making him rub the inside of his ear with a pinky. He looked to the warrior, "I'll follow you to the closest VES, make sure she's safe on the trip down. Let none, save myself, approach her."

[][][][]

Several hours later, Ix'Zary orbit.

"I can complete a city of your specifications in several days, but I'll need further resources to create enough automata to do it in this time frame." Ha'Gael spoke to Fenrir within one of the laboratories.

"How quickly will the…" He blinked away the announce of staring at a console for several hours straight and looked at Ix-Chel nearby, in a stasis-tube and the skin along her spine and the back of her head peeled back, more clearly showing the symbiote. Ha'Gael's analysis of Goa'uld was accurate, where a smaller group of the species is the one that exclusively reproduces for the race in a similar way to caste-insects. His assumption was a lucky one on good Ix-Chel, assuming she was a queen of the worms alongside being a literal queen. "…will the harvest of necessary resources take? The new citizens did not even wish for the planet to be out of sight for a day, I fear an hour longer and they'd riot."

"If I mobilize moments before jumping to the belt, it should take just under an hour. So, good for us I guess." Ha'Gael explained.

"Not a minute more, Gael, for both our sakes." He half joked.

He didn't fear them, but the constant prodding from the fear when the civilians were transported to Ha'Gael in the asteroid belt. Most have never been in a ship, let alone off world.

This temporary relocation was not just for simple renovation. As the city was hollowed out of noncombatants, Hierarchy troops quickly found, rounded up and either detained or killed. Of course there were people who simply did not wish to move out of the city. Desire could be changed, in time, for the better and the jaffa under his command were quick to purpose and didn't hesitate and knew exactly what to do when they encountered either them or some of Ix-Chel's remaining troops.

He was surprised that only a little more than a million lived within it. People were packed together so tightly in such a massive metropolis, he expected at least five times that.

Then again, Ix-Chel's initial invasion probably had the odd purge or mass execution or two to shorten the numbers.

The only thing he was truly worried about was the disposition of forces from Ix-Chel's home systems. He knew the majority was here, and with Ha'Gael in orbit, a fleet twenty times the size Ix-Chel had in Ix'Zary. Another worm can take control when Ix-Chel's absence comes to fullness and strike out against other systems in hopes of resources or slaves, causing unneeded carnage and destabilization.

He shook his head, "Get the mining done as soon as possible, Gael." Fenrir continued on with his research.

"Gael, do these chromosomes look constructed to you?" He tapped at the console and sent it to the ship.

"You are half correct." Ha'Gael stated, "Several of them are natural occurrences but bound additional sets of chromosomes. The others you sent…" She paused, "…. are some very good examples of genetic engineering. Whoever did this, knew what they were doing. They are keyed to neurological development, modifying a host organism to be of in a superior state of health."

Fenrir nodded, "That's it then. They are the keys to their genetic memories and improving the wellbeing, strength and longevity of the host." He placed a hand to his chin, "Any patterns or markers we've seen before?"

Ha'Gael paused again, sorting through comparisons in her memory. "A... partial match." She paused. "These markers…" She placed two comparing strands of DNA on his console, "…are similar to the genetic modifications to a Furling vaccine of a genetic disease. It is the closest comparison and has notable differences, and we both know how they felt towards genetic engineering."

"Hated the shit." Fenrir scratched an eyebrow, "Could barely stay in the same room with an Asgard. Something about social dogma from a war they had during their first attempts to colonize their home system?"

"Correct, the 'Foundation Wars'. Though medicinal applications were not condemned."

"Why would the Furlings, of all people, genetically augment a race of parasitic serpents?" Fenrir shook his head, "It doesn't make sense."

"It is a hypothesis. It could be something else, but these creatures were undoubtedly modified, and extremely well at that."

Fenrir shrugged, "Answers for another time then, we know where to start. Now, we just have to find a way to null the intelligence of a spawned queen. Then we can begin altering her offspring to be not only able to serve Jaffa past maturity, but minimize sentience and deny its ability to take hosts." He scoffed, "Maybe I should've said three days. Gene modding is no specialty of mine."

"Even a Bo-Throk will write Zakorin, given enough time." Ha'Gael commented, making him roll his eyes.

"Please don't compare me to those disgusting, obnoxious creatures, we haven't even slept together." He sighed.

"Speaking of, I let Kanyto into the lab. She desires her presence." Ha'Gael spoke, enjoying the shocked face her maker made.

"I haven't slept with her, you mocking little…" He refrained from insulting her as said woman approached, the dim of the lab shadowing her shape, crossing a corner and leaning on one of the walls nearby. He looked to the young jaffa, smiled and spoke in Summa'Goa, "My dear Godkiller! How can I help y-?"

"Did she suffer?"

Fenrir's smile faded and he said back instantly, "No."

He could see Kanyto nodding softly, "Thank you. She… Baxtza may not have been a… well she was not a good person to me, but if I had been…" She shook her head, "I don't think I could've have done it. At all. She was still my sister."

"Do you resent me, then?"

She looked to the side, "I… I'm not sure. You are saving my people from reliance on the goa'uld. Promising us a bright future, free of bondage, but I see you and cannot help but picture her suffering, in pain, crying out for her children."

"She didn't do any of those things. I ended killed her before she killed me. It was as simple as that." He lied. He noticed her odd posture, how she leant on the table and walls of the room as she approached him. "Are you injured from the battle? Why do you walk unwell?"

"Ah, well that's the other reason I came here." He approached his desk, smiling, grey hair filthy and eyes playful. "I killed my prim'ta… I will die soon."

Fenrir, shocked aware, took her by the waist and placed her in his chair, "By the Cosmic Eternals, why?!"

She chuckled, "Firstly, to keep you true to your word. Secondly… well, I doubt I would feel this… unmounted of reason from risk of death when… I…" She scoffed, grabbed his head with both hands, and pulled him into a kiss.

Fenrir stared wide eyed through it, but a part of his brain happened to think, 'Balls, this kiss is pathetic.' He let her kiss him for a second more then grabbed her by the shoulders and pushed her back to the seat. "You are unwell, I must not waste any more time now, not only from my word, but your life is at risk!" He frustratingly hissed.

"Well, then you better take me fast…" She whispered to him coyly.

He was appalled even further "You're young, you're being influenced by lack of symbiote! To embrace you in pleasure now would make not you rueful, but myself."

"You imagine that you'd spoil me for all men after you? You a _re_ an arrogant bastard to only boast so with mere words." She took one of Fenrir's hands and kissed its palm.

Fenrir closed, took in a sobering breath and sighed, "Please, I will take you to the Apothecary. You must be under monitor."

Kanyto rolled her eyes and grabbed his throat, with surprising coarseness, "After. If I'm not dead between you making your excuses and the actual action!" Fenrir's mouth was a wry line of worry from this situation, and she seethed, "You don't desire me then? That blasted, meek little sprite, Denta, spoil you? What is it?"

At the mention of the woman, frustrations he shouldn't have brought to bear, surfaced and found himself lifting her by her arms and placing her against the nearby wall.

The reaction he received was contrary from what he expected, as she growled, reaching out to his shirt and ripping it open. "Your move." She teased.

His urge to take this sickly woman, practically a child, grew to such a size that it threatened to overtake his reason.

"I do _not_ want to do this." He said aloud, eyes staring, hypocritically, at her chest encased in the retracted center piece of Apex armor.

"To the underworld for what you want, you simple bastard. _I_ want it, and you _will_ give it, coward!"

That sent him over the edge. He slammed her onto the nearest table, pulled at the piece of copper armor as he smashed his lips to hers, desperately ripping it off and stripping each other twice as violently.

The squall like secession that occurred was mostly her being pinned to the table, legs wrapped around his waist as he, with no small sense of pride bruised, hammered away at her like a piston with the single purpose of gratifying the mewling woman under him.

It was frightful, how fast it began then ended, and what seemed seconds later, they were both laying on the table, bodies sweat coated and the aroma of their recent activities filled the air.

Fenrir was desperately regaining breath, arm being encompassed by Kanyto until he finally spoke, "Now… to the apothecary, and not a word of what has happened tonight."

He tried to rise, only for her to wrap an arm around his neck and slam him back down next to hers. "No bed-talk? Are you so ashamed of our act? Have no desire of me to whisper how you had to…" She chuckled, "…bribe me to see the healer?"

Fenrir felt a spike of guilt, "Hardly a bribe. I was extorted."

"Then must I threaten to place myself in peril in some other fashion to… 'extort' you again, when my mind and body are in true health?" Kanyto asked provocatively.

Fenrir pried the arm off his neck and rose, taking up his pants. "Come, I will escort you. A walk would be most enjoyable." Holding out her tunic.

She sighed frustratingly, reaching for it, and as she rose was stricken with sudden dizziness and then vomited on the floor next to the table.

Fenrir dropped it and ordered, "Ria-zar, gofon!" The nearby teleportation beamed in an automata, who quickly scanned her.

"Why is she without symbiote?!" He questioned uneasily.

"She took it out by her own will, see her as well as you can make her! I will have a replacement soon! Go!"

Fenrir redoubled his efforts, Ha'Gaels mining and processing going completely unnoticed to him, as well as the need for food and drink.

He induced Ix-Chel to conceive three queen larvae (any further in this span of time would risk damage to the queen's reproductive system), two of which failed, the last became perfect. Of the failed, one he destroyed, the other, he stored in stasis. When given to Jaffa, it would replace the immune system, heal injuries and increase its strength the same as a goa'uld, save these were practically animals, lobotomized creations to serve a singular purpose, be the unseen, unheard and unfeared protection of the jaffa, then reproduce when of a critical age of some decades, it will seek a body of water to then grow an egg sack and produce a clutch of spawn, then perish.

All, and having almost four hours to spare. He took the first serpent in a canister, teleported to the Apothecary, rushed to Kanyto's side and placed the creature next to her symbiote womb, noting that instead of four petals for the fold, it had only three.

The new breed of symbiote, pale yellow in color, slithered into the opening and, if tests with artificial wombs replicated to mimic a jaffa's perfectly were correct, doing its work.

He stood next to the bed for nearly an hour, her eyes finally coming to life weakly, scanning the room and seeing Fenrir smiling gladly. "You feel well, perhaps too well? Should I strip, lay on the floor and wait for your libido to be exhausted using me?"

Kanyto thought that entire thing was some kind of fever dream, created from the deprivation of her immune system. She floundered, before she began to speak, "I-I-I-I-!"

"Peace, my friend." Fenrir raised a hand and smiled, feeling slightly regretful at the joke. "Are you alright? Truly."

Kanyto looked away, "I am well. The…" she fidgeted on her bed, uncomfortable from the straps holding her secure to the bed. "The symbiote stirs oddly. Is it half dead?"

"No, just… domesticated." He nodded, "I will get you some water and fetch the Apothecary." Turning to leave the room.

"My lord?" Kanyto asked for.

Fenrir grinned at her, tempted to ask her to call him by his real name, but thought it unwise to do so. "Just Fenrir, to you."

Kanyto bit her lip, "About… the celebration I was less then gentle in requesting…" She bashfully looked away, blood returning to her face in too fast a rush. "I would not think that I… please, let us act as it _was_ a fever dream?"

"If you wish. In public. You can't expect me not to mention it in private!" He laughed, "If you were the man and I the woman-!"

"Please, please stop Fenrir, its embarrassing!" Kanyto commanded spitefully.

He gave a last laugh, before patting her on the shoulder, "I'll get your water and your healer, leaving you to rest. Farewell."

[][[][]

Naki. It's what he named this breed of goa'uld. He made several clones of the successful Naki queen he created soon after tests were in the affirmative, and they spawned thousands of symbiotes to be replaced. They were distributed first to children, then to their parents and then the bachelors and more aged, well, the numbers grew a little thin for them. Until the next batch of clones were formed, they would have to rely on their initial symbiotes.

When he came out of the lab from setting up the next clones, he was surprised to see _thousands_ of souls assembled outside. Some clothed, some barely, some fewer were armored.

All of them were staring at him.

Fenrir looked from side to side, they had clustered all over yellow deck,

From the right, he saw Hassir approach from the mass, new, mechanical legs clicking on the floor as she walked forward, devoid of armor, weapons, wearing a simple poncho and something else he never would have expected her to adorn; a smile.

Fenrir nodded to her, "Master Hassir, what miracle is this?"

"Where…?" She asked loudly enough for most to hear, "Where do you see the jaffa under your rule?"

Fenrir smiled to her, understanding the purpose of the assembly, "To see them elevated, elevated above their former masters and beyond."

"What of the humans you have liberated as well?" She continued.

"In a similar place, alongside their jaffa brothers and sisters, in communion, peace and fulfillment." Fenrir continued, this time, facing the crowd.

"The slaves? Slavery at all?"

"Freedom." He replied simply, but spoke more volumes to those on the deck then a thousand words.

Hassir's smile broadened, as she slowly knelt on new legs, looking up at Fenrir, "Then let the Hierarchy begin." She gestured to everyone else with her arms, "Right here, with all of us."

Fenrir looked to the swarm, the horde, the battalion strong mass and spoke, "To all those who wish to serve these ideals: kneel now."

The entire crowd knelt, almost all in unison, none leaving or stood.

"Do you swear, on the blood of your fathers, on the blood of your daughters, to serve the Hierarchy?"

They all echoed, " **I swear**."

"To perform your duties, uphold its laws and serve your clan?"

" **I swear**."

"Will you swear to live to the Hierarchy's ideals of honor, service and understanding unto fire, pain and oblivion?"

" **I swear**."

" _Then rise! Citizens, warriors and lords of the Hierarchy_!" He declared, holding his arms out dramatically.

As they rose, the chorus of cheer and applause erupted. Fenrir laughed and tried to yell over it, "What are you all cheering for! We have a civilization to create!"

[][][][][]


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

(A lot of the beginning is boring, fluff focused stuff. You can skip to the next [[][ breaker if you don't wish to read it)

"This Quickening…" Fenrir held the auto-syringe out for the room to see. Most of the higher ranking individuals, of those being Hassir, temporary Lord of Armies, and Btham, Lord of Sciences, and another ten other representatives, and their two members of staff behind them. "…is a neurological development accelerant. When administered, will seek out the Greater Cerebral Vein, where it will then aggressively force neurons to develop. This requires intense focus from the individual, any distraction for the full twenty hours of its activity may prove to hamper any improvement on a subject."

"You ask us to take this drug in order to more rapidly learn various topics of your Hierarchy? Why don't we just learn more steadily over time, add in our own aspects of culture? These sessions you made thousands of years ago would hardly be universal." A male spoke from the table, his name unknown to Fenrir, but was clearly human. He spoke well, but his voice carried a tone of tension, nervousness from being at the same table of Jaffa and speaking of sharing in government equally.

"Your culture?" Hassir questioned sarcastically, "You're farmers, laborers. You can't even read or write. What 'culture' do you have to add?"

"Master Jaffa…" Fenrir glared at her, looking to one of the human representatives, seeing outrage as well as carefully disciplined withdrawal not to engage the old jaffa. Fenrir was uncertain whether or not this is due to her specifically being a jaffa, or maybe was more politically inclined before these first beginning weeks of the Hierarchy. "They shall learn in time, but the Quickening can have the human's literacy of Summa'Goa to your level or greater in but five days, then to Gjin-Ai. The accelerant must be given two days to leave the body, if injected within these forty-eight hours, could not only be toxic but damage the brain of the user." He paced the sides of the tables, behind the seated dozen and their twenty-four staff members behind them, "These lessons that Ha'Gael has developed gives the information, the Quickening does not impose, replace or impair the thoughts, ideas or theories that an individual has or may have in the future. It is like any lesson, giving information, but is your choice on how to interpret it."

Bthahm spoke, "While I am not a biologist or chemist by any stretch, Ha'Gael has informed me that anyone who uses it will be introduced to mild pain in the forms of headaches, muscle aches, and various other symptoms that range from person to person. I shudder to think what it may do to a child, and is out of range of use to someone that has not reached a maturity of twenty-or-so-years."

Fenrir stopped, turning from the table and looked out to city.

Toha-Rah. First City. The substandard, wretched stone buildings and huts of the Capital of Ix'Zary were replaced with a far more spacious and open metropolis. The apartments, housing and living quarters of most citizens were focused at the center, around the citadel, expanding outwards from the building he and the temporary council stood upon. He moved most of the system's citizens to Toha after it was completed, swelling the number of those within it to just over two-million, the majority being slightly in favor of the humans in terms of numbers, but literacy, education and combative skills being almost totally in the hands of the jaffa.

In the mid-ring were various establishments such as bakeries, vertical farms, groceries, merchant posts and, most recently, banks.

"How fares the transition from Naquadah coins to Hierarchy Ducats?" Fenrir asked. A good portion of the last five weeks was forming a basis of economy, transferring away from bartering and trade and more into currency, where each ducat represented a specific weight of Naquadah. Since Ha'Gael's deployed refinery vessels and mining drones to the belt, they've had a vast access to the mineral and proved a valid basis of Mineral-Standard for the Ducats.

If he encountered other cultures (hopefully soon, he was getting anxious and desired to explore the systems nearby), if they had Naquadah, could easily begin trading in Hierarchy territory, whilst those that did not and had more domestic goods or consumables could trade for Naquadah from the Ducats they earned.

"Most are still at odds or confused with the process. They still find the ducats to be a bit… odd looking."

Fenrir dug a hand in one of his robe pockets and pulled out a ducat, examining the iron-grey block. It held an impression of the Star-Wolf, and between its jaws held the star of Ix'Zary, the neighboring heavenly bodies laser inscribed. At the 'bottom' of the ducat was a laser etched set-code, to insure validation and deny counterfeiting, looking like sets of keys lain side by side.

Of course, there were 'decimal currency' which took the appearance of laser inscribed copper squares, silver triangles and gold circles, representing zero-point-one (0.01), zero-point-ten (0.10), and zero-point-fifty (0.50) respectively.

This was an unusual exercise in simple economics for Fenrir, as transferring to the more collectivist-rank oriented economy of the old Hierarchy was not only a bit hampering, it would likely not work for these people. He needed people to go out, find resources, goods, and people to commit services in order to expand fast and promote an individual identity for his new citizens, no longer purely farmers, warriors or laborers.

"Aesthetics are of little focus currently." Fenrir chuckled, looking at the clan-iron clad buildings of the city, smooth, spear-like and gleaming in the morning light of the desert.

The metal seemed to darken from exposure to a yellow-light star. The adopted homeworld of the clans, where the clan-iron was created, almost glowed under the light of the red star.

"Perhaps. We must, however, get back on track. The Quickening can be distributed first to one half of the army, then to the other as soon as the first recover. As soon as we know we won't be weakened from a lack of able warriors, we can distribute the various lessons and the Quickening in a mere ten days." Hassir commented.

"We can distribute it first to the worker volunteers!" A newcomer jaffa, one of the treasury master's guards, before he was killed. Apparently, the treasury goa'uld required at least minimally helpful guards to assist with her duties, making her useful in teaching and leading the various humans and jaffa that came to her in the hopes to further furnish the city. She had a youthful appearance, eyes blazing with passionate determination, hair more white then Kanyto but far shorter, just under her chin and skin red-brown as if her fiery temperament had leaked to her epidermis. "We can construct defense towers, protect the city in similar fashion to Ha'Gael protects space in orbit. Or further increase ship or defense platform production. Improve the workers, improve the state of life of the Hierarchy. The information and engineering is already here, we just need the knowledge how to understand the information and engineering."

Fenrir sighed, "We're looking at this product too limitedly. We _cannot_ replace traditional education with Quickening. I told we are going to give the first bounties of it to the military officers immediately under Hassir's command, not to the army as a whole then allow for public distribution. If they desire to have an accelerated education course, they must either become a warrior or officer of great merit or purchase it themselves, such things cannot be simply given, no matter a group's place in society or disposition. However, with the new need for instructors becoming paramount, we can distribute it in limited forms freely, per your recommendations."

He spotted one of the staff lean in and whisper to one of the people he has yet to remember a name from. She was a large jaffa, giving the impression that she was recently a warrior, before and after the Hierarchy reclamation, he could not say. She looked to him and asked, "Explain how, after the dissolution of this provisional council, will the Hierarchy government function? Where would we find ourselves?"

Fenrir walked to his chair, some distance away from the front of the teardrop shaped table, swiping a hand over the console on the seat's left arm. "Holo display: New Hierarchy government."

The table's center holographic projector opened up and shown the symbol of the Star-Wolf before transferring to a set of runes, lines leading to one another and icon representation of individual ranks or occupations in society. "The Hierarchy is as much a merit focused republic as it is an oligarchy. Cities, space habitats, planets and star systems are required to elect a representative from both the larger population of citizens and a set of the twelve highest officials that represent the twelve lords of the Hierarchy. The Writ of Rahaga, an outline explaining the minimal focuses, laws and liberties that official Hierarchy territories must have, where the peoples involved must confer to its laws as supreme and cannot make or enforce laws that limit or curtail them. These are only those territories whom are directly under control of the citizenry, the twelves lords and the crimson-king."

"Excuse? Citizenry? Twelves lords? Crimson-king?"

"The citizenry is a legislative body of publically nominated citizens to represent various, officially recognized bodies of likeminded people whom place effort, resources and voices together in order to effect change in a certain fashion, whether it is to petition inclusion of a territory within the Hierarchy, change of a law within the government and throughout its territories, or demand a replacement of one of twelves lords. There will be one citizen-representative per recognized territory." Fenrir shrugged, "We only would have two right now. One for those who live in Toha-Rah, one other for those who live in Ha'Gael. Ha'Gael herself is a citizen, and is thus considered an equal voter, as is Ria-zar. They often don't however, feel it's beneath them."

He continued, "The twelve-lords are the highest positions in the Hierarchy government, regulating, directing and exemplifying one of the twelve facets of society: army, navy, education, commerce, production, agriculture, medical, law, intelligence, diplomatic, sciences, and the citizenry." He zoomed into the twelve runes representing the twelve lords. "Each lord has an equal say in parliament, and are held in equal footing of certain Examinations and Equialibrium, assuring that one lord can neither infringe on the duties of another nor control past their elected performances, focusing on the fulfillment of roles which cannot be done purely themselves. Soldiers need farmers, diplomats needs soldiers, navies need materials, production needs education and so on. The possibility of becoming a lord is all inclusive, anyone of the profession and ability can be voted into the position if one dies, is proven inept and voted out or is surrendered to a given nominee. Every farmer, thus, can potentially become not only a high ranking member in control of the various assets under him, but possibly a lord his or herself of agriculture. Bankers, bakers and merchants, commerce. Each duty thus extends to the branch as a whole, encouraging to commit to the job to the fullest abilities and advance in rank and status, as we expand, more opportunities will become available to the various ranks. The lord of citizenry is voted into the position, being able to put forth the people's desires amidst the other twelve-lords in parliament, voted not by their duty, but by their merit, and by the desire of his or her fellow citizens. Now! My favorite part:" Clicking on the console and focusing on the highest rune of the lot, "The Crimson-King. Me."

"The crimson-king is a man, or woman, that has absolute authority amidst the high lords and parliament. It is as much a counter balance to assure that the lords do their duty to the fullest ability, and if found wanting, or maneuvers in such a way, can authorize immediate dismissal, removal or execution of one of the lords and nominate a successor. They, however, can only do this once every ten years. The crimson-king will have a private army at most one thousand personnel, called the Carmine-Guard. A successor is either chosen directly by the king or can be overruled by shared vote of both Parliament and the Citizenry. This king, can only be of a clan, however. As our physical immortality allows for more limited infringement, unless absolutely necessary, being able to see much longer down the line then others and guide the Hierarchy most efficiently."

The fire-blooded jaffa slammed a fist on the table, "This crimson-king, _you_ , would operate with nearly unlimited power! You'd be no different than the goa'uld!"

He rolled his eyes, "Yes, so close to a goa'uld, I'd offer a tested and successful government, free of constraints of birth, race, free to perform in this society, rise as high as your skills can take you and vote for your people's desires." He presented an arm to her, closing his eyes and placing the back of his hand on his forehead dramatically, "Open my wrist! Let me bleed my last! Before this power corrupts me!"

She stared between him and the wrist, wondering if he'd gone mad, "Are you serious?"

He took the arm back and smiled at her, "No." Looking back to the table, "You all will be the first twelve-lords of the Hierarchy, but first must assure economic stability and surety, that the people can provide for themselves, their families and all under their care, steadily easing them into new positions and how the government functions. This could very well take months, and should start immediately. Any questions?" Fenrir awaited a response, "Good, dismissed."

The council stood from their seats, saluting in the jaffa fashion of bowing slightly whilst placing a fist over the center of the heart, then proceeded down the citadel to perform their various duties, given to them by their staff.

One stayed, however. Btham, who approached Fenrir as soon as all had departed and smiled broadly, "I heard you've adopted a child, Fenrir!"

He chuckled, "Made. Didn't adopt. I know, I know, the timing doesn't make sense to you, I've only been in the system for two months, how could I have sired a full fledged child in that time? I have, and she's safe and healthy."

Btham shrugged and gestured to the door, "Can I at least see the child? Is it with its mother?"

Fenrir's smile vanished like cube of ice in a fire. "She left. I do not know where she is."

"She abandoned her child?" She asked, appalled and shocked.

"Hardly abandoned. I will make certain that the child has more love then any two parents could spare. I have to return to her side soon anyways, come." He presented his arm to the door downwards.

As they entered the elevator, where his comrade asked, "So it's a girl then? Whats her name?"

[[][

Denta held the bundle close to her chest, cheeks dry as she looked at the World-Gate, Fenrir at her flank.

"Please, stay. She deserves a mother, a good mother. She needs you." The man tried to convince her, here at the eleventh hour of their deal.

Denta slowly shook her head, jostling the pack filled with supplies enough to survive on her own for a month. "I… I can't. I need to be far away from here and forget what the goa'uld have…" She swiped at a cheek, eyes bleary red. "I know you'll be a better parent then me. I don't even know who I am."

Fenrir tried to hold back his scorn for Denta's decision, but did curse her silently as she held the babe towards him.

He looked to the chapa'ai after he took their child to his chest, "Where do you go?"

"A place I think that may remember me, or at least, holds clues from where I come from." Denta stared at the child as she spoke.

"You said you had a name for her?" Kaennin asked, forcing tenderness in his voice where, he would be speaking only with apathy if the child were not here. Looking down, parting a part of the blanket the daughter slept. Opening an eye as she felt Kaennin's finger cross her cheek, where orange eyes, new to the world, bore unto his own of near identical color.

"Adria." Denta said, as she prepared to step through the gate. "I… think it was what my mother was called." Pacing over the edge of the portal, it quickly shut down.

[][]

"Her name is Adria." Fenrir looked to Bthahm as they stood in the lift. "When I am not around for some time, I have given the duty to trusted friends. Kanyto, her new charge of nieces and one elderly jaffa look over her."

At the recollection of Baxtza's children, Bthahm's lips stressed into a vexed line. A former comrade betraying her people. They had lost a father to a simple accident, how have they taken to a mother being killed for treason? Do they even know?

"I hope to raise her between myself and jaffa standards. She must be made strong sooner, rather than later." Fenrir commented, "And all jaffa must have a clansman that they admire and respect."

"More then you, their liberator?" Bthahm scoffed dryly. "I'd name my firstborn after you, if you asked."

"I don't think that's nessessary, though flattered." He nodded to her with a smile, "I am still an outsider, taking up the jaffa's cause for true freedom. Adria will become a bridge between the clan and the jaffa."

Bthahm bit her bottom lip, "She will face rigors a human shouldn't. I would warrant thinking long and hard before committing to that decision."

Fenrir shrugged, "She is of the clan. She will be both strong and resourceful. Baring the need for implantation of a prim'ta. Speaking of: how fares your Naki?"

"Kanyto was not kidding when she spoke of how much less it stirred. It's almost… humble in how it tries to not move too rapidly, no longer anxious to leave." Bthahm denied the sudden urge to touch her pouch's opening from the mention.

"Good, it was meant to be so." Fenrir nodded approvingly. "We've only heard of two cases of rejection, but now have immature goa'uld in excess for them to use until a sustainable substitute can be found or made."

The lift stopped at the city-core's highest level, and they both walked off in unison before the grav lift descended down further to service another. Of course, the jaffa preferred stairs, being able to go up flights without tiring in the least, but many of the newly added human facilitators absolutely adored the new transportation addition of graviton controlled personnel elevation lifts.

He opened up the doors to his far more spacious quarters, though still sparse of decoration. At least, that's what he thought, as he looked at one end of the room, he saw Son'Tza and B'ari sparing with wooden replicas of the Va'Tok staves, Amae'An, guardian before and now partly after Baxtza's rediscovering them, sitting in a wooden chair holding Adria in her lap, facing the practice duel but often looking back up to Amae'An and giggling, pointing a small, chubby finger at her and saliva bubbling at her mouth.

"Ah-ah! Attack only when grounded! Strike without proper footing, you are either dead or defeated!" Amae'An commanded, seeing Son'Tza attack brazenly, strength misplaced due to her new arm making her both over confident and uncoordinated.

B'ari used her sister's distraction to quickly strike her guard more left and swung her staff's under side out, striking Son'Tza in the mouth, turning her around in pain. A practice staff was actually much heavier than a staff weapon, and extremely weighty in comparison to the new Plasma Lances. Son'Tza's gums began to bleed, top lip split open and she spit blood on the practice mat, turned with fury in her eyes and began to strike back against B'ari with a roar of fury, mechanical limb's grip beginning to crack the practice weapon, and struck with such uncontrolled strength that B'ari was taken off guard and pushed to the ground.

"Son'Tza!" Amae'An stood up from her seat, and her yelling began to upset Adria who broke out in weeping soon after her order was heard. "You will engage in combat with a cool mind! Your sister struck you when you were distracted and the engagement hadn't been dismissed! A warrior's first distraction _will be their last_!"

Son'Tza quickly stopped, stood at attention towards her instructor and bowed, planting the staff in the ground. "Apologies, master."

"B'ari, good work. Go find a meal dispenser. Whatever you like. Son'Tza, you will practice _every_ sequence I have taught you, and when I am satisfied, _only_ then will you eat. Commence!" The younger child gave a short bow before running out of the room, the elder jaffa commanded the remaining junior, the later huffing before starting the first sequence of hits, blocks an foot movements to an invisible enemy on the opposing end of the mat which looked suspiciously like her little sister.

Adria's cries only increased the frustrations, but was silenced when Fenrir quickly reached down to her and picked her up from Amae'An's arms.

The two clansmen, Firstborn and Hybrid's eyes remained transfixed, Fenrir soothing her with simple telepathic communion, who in turn returned simpler images and emotions. Her abilities were far superior then he expected. The psionic connection was momentarily disconnected as Fenrir had to look away, eyes briefly flashing orange as emotion overwhelmed reason, heart swelling with pride before returning to normal and reconnecting with Adria who cooed appreciatively.

"The day goes well then?" Fenrir asked Amae'An.

"Better then the day before, my lord." Amae'An nodded and smiled, sitting down as quickly as she could, suddenly feeling her age. "I have heard that the all the old temples, all the priests and priestess within that did not surrender and forsake their gods, were burned."

Fenrir grimaced, "This… pleases you?"

"The temples always horded wealth, excused the goa'uld's 'divine' acts against us all. If anything, they deserved a slower death."

"Remind me not to get on your bad side." Fenrir chuckled dryly, before departing looking at the enraged Son'Tza, "Ral tora ke." Patting the chair she sat in, departing with Adria.

' _Place go_?' Adria telepathically inquired.

' _ **Eat place**_.' He tried to explain, his thought explaining the Dispensary being a little too complex and confused her. ' _ **Food place**_.' He tried again, more or less succeeding in conveying that he goes towards food. The Dispensary itself had a fairly limited selection, rationing being limited in fresh breads, fruits and meat from limited supply, while cereals and porridge being the main stay and freely consumed without restriction.

Agriculture was a primary concern of the Hierarchy currently, feeding the now bustling population of Toha-Rah, as was shifting a family focus to having many children, offering incentives with more spacious living environments, assistance at home with automata made specifically to the family and various other offers that help at home or the work environment. He needed a 'baby-boom' to increase the system's native born population as soon as possible, and the removal cultural taboo of having more than one son per family. Several of the council encouraged a limited form of polygamy, as there were far fewer males on the planet in ratio to the opposing gender, causing a massive gap of married and bachelors. This frustration continued to plague the council, with Fenrir himself willing to have polygamy to be officially legalized, he didn't wish to push the jaffa out of long kept traditions too fast, where marriage was always between a single pair of partners. He was hesitant to interfere, knowing that if he did would limit the natural problem solving process between the council members and make them increasingly dependent on either his opinion or intervention, which short term would be highly efficient. Long term wise? Potentially crippling of the Hierarchy's future twelve lords.

' _What eat_?' Adira inquired, breaking his train of thought.

Thankfully he smiled at her, ' _ **Not for me. Feed you**_.' Sending the image of a thinned, bloody morsel and saw her eyes brighten, lips parting, showing several small incisors at the mid of both upper and lower jaws.

Hybrids, the natural born anyways, always had a voracious appetite. Being fed lightly cooked, bloody meat. A fair amount of her nutrients were no longer bound to the babe's nursing, being unbound to hunt smaller prey or being fed the hunt of larger game by the parents, like packs of predators to their offspring.

The Dispensary was a large room, filled with table, chairs and eight outlets at the back of the room, being able to dispense various food goods, taken directly from the place it was made through small teleportation pads, and if power was of concern, a series of tubes could safely transport food, but took a minute or two to arrive. Pushing in a button next to the image-representation of a 'cattle-cutlet', imputing his account code, the pad turned blue before the light was replaced by a raw piece of meat.

Taking to a table, he let Adria crawl on the table as he peeled a piece of meat off and she quickly crawled to it, wrapping fingers around one end as she fed the other into her mouth, suckling at the blood and eagerly tearing flesh, swallowing what she tore off easily.

She would be this voracious for months to come. Her body would mature to lower adulthood in half a year, but sexual maturity itself would have to wait five years. Good enough time between to the two to fully master one's fierce impulses.

All clansmen carried an organ, functioned very similarly to sweat or adrenal glands, save these were near constantly on, functioning as sensory modifiers, making everything… Fenrir couldn't quite explain it himself on a human level, even as he reclaimed a partial human sight with years of patience and control. The 'Manaka' Glands were responsible for staining of eye-color of the individual clan to the individual. Orange, his and Adria's, was very common. It made sight, feeling… engaging. Glaringly intense. The responses he and others gave those same stimuli being intensified as well, leading to several incidents of his youth he wished he forgot, either from embarrassment or full-fledged regret.

He was curious what Adria's eyes would look human. Whether they'd be blue like his own, or brown like her mothers. She's already inherited much from her as is, being of a lighter skin tone of her though still fairly darkened, with eyebrows and top of her head sprouting dark brown, almost black hair, something possibly of either of their ancestry. Though she still kept his active eyes, triplet slits of pupils barely indistinguishable from afar.

He clicked a rune on his wrist-guard. "Ha'Gael, what else is on the agenda today?"

"You were going to run final tests on the Explorer, take a small, skeleton crew and explore the nearby star Ymorin, take back a World Gate for use of Toha-Rah, then upon your return, decide what to do with the goa'uld prisoners in stasis." The World-Ship replied curtly.

"Ah yes! My thanks!" Fenrir snapped his fingers in recollection, then gave a telepathic signal to Adria, ' _ **Want to go on a small adventure**_?' Fenrir smiled at his daughter.

It didn't have the desired affect, as she tilted her head and gave a confused response back, the thoughts unfortunately too complicated. He then sent the image of Amae'An and saw her brighten with a smile, sending back an image of B'ari with the sensation of affection and kinship.

'So you've taken to her or she's taken with you.' Fenrir thought to himself, seeing her quickly devour the last of her meal. Dispensing of the trash at the center of the table and taking Adria up again, escorting her back to Amae'An's care in his quarters.

[][][]

Fenrir settled into the Explorer's captain's chair, getting a sense of nostalgia, the bridge being replicated from the small, _Contender_ -class frigate of the Clans piece by piece. Command was seated in the center, the chair elevated slightly, command crew were seated in small console-alcoves along the captain's chair, where further across the bridge against walls, doors and where the various other lesser staff and officers worked, going on about their duty of maintaining the ship.

The vessel was an 'beaked-tube', bulbous set of large engines at the rear, the main section extending forward until the end tapered to a beak that tapered down, holding most of the fore weapons and the command deck. Along the spine was a plasma cannon, the only confined weapon on the vessel that could not alter firing direction and also the most powerful, the other hull mounted phason torpedoes, lancer-point defense guns and heavy mass accelerators were on small turrets or self-guiding, even if a torpedo was launched from the fore, it could guide itself near instantly to the rear, not that it was necessary. This ship was not built for sustained combat, being equipped with a cloaking device, argon-shielding systems and three Wolf-Glider fighters, was a perfect long-range exploration or patrol craft, if properly outfitted. Right now, he had only the one glider in the cargo hold, as well as the entire arsenal of torpedoes being removed. He always wanted to be prepared, but if he was attacked, would be simpler if they just retreated to hyperspace, if they were discovered. Its small profile, in comparison to motherships at least, speedy engines and cloak could hold until the hyperspace tunneler recharged.

"Crimson-King." A deep voice boomed from the bridge's grounded speakers, metallic and positively apathetic in expression, "I am fully installed within the vessel, Ha'Gael has conveyed the mission required. Weapons, hyperspace, sensors, cloaking and shields are all fully operational. The rest of the crew is yet to arrive within the hour, where we will test engines then launch from the Space Elevator. I am Bokal, demi-mind fashioned from Ha'Gael to serve as this vessel's machine-intelligence."

Demi-minds being the half way point between metal-minds, multipurpose artificial intelligences or computers, and a true tool, confined to singular purposes. These semi metal-minds being focused on specific duties, kept in check by constraints of protocol and far, far 'stupider' then a full-fledged metal mind. Even the simpler metal-mind of the Tauri base was far more adaptable and capable of growth of use when compared to Bokal here.

He typed several runes into the command console on his chair, showing the sensor observation of nearby space, spying the space elevator constructed. Or most of it. The main section was still in orbit, automata working constantly to build enough of the bases, both in orbit and on the ground, to pull reliable graviton tethers and lifts together perfectly. People are relying on either VESs or Ha'Gael's transportation network to get from planetside to orbit.

Eventually, the ground base of the elevator will hold the system's world-gate, secure with an energy shield to deny possible hostiles, as well as a tracking system to perfectly pinpoint ring activation. While the World-Gate system will assist in instantaneous transportation across the galaxy, it will severely limit a focus on stellar fortification. He and his people will not be confined to limited to relying on a gate network that was pieced together by short-sighted, decadent Alterans, but currently he needed one to facilitate travel that requires little to no supplies, personnel and equipment, all three being severely lacking in the Hierarchy until everything comes together.

Not to mention, only the first-generation of World-Gates exist in the western galaxy, far less reliable then the more plentiful, main stray World-Gates, even without the nebulae in the area disrupting wormhole connections, but he needed to start somewhere simple.

"Warm up the engines, I want to head to the Ymorin star system as soon as all crew are aboard in half an hour, send them notification that any who do not arrive on time will be left behind and severely punished." Fenrir looked towards the screen, "Display the Ymorin star system on the viewer, give status of planets, populations and resources."

"Yes, lord." Bokal confirmed emotionlessly, the main screen at the front of the bridge showing a plain system map of Ymorin. It highlighted that its single gas-giant had an impressive possible mass of Helium-3, something that could assist with higher production of cold-fusion power, whether it was in armor, cities or ships. The planets between it were barren, cold, but likely had accessible, more mundane materials for mining. Ymorin-Five, on the edge of Ymorin's star's life zone, was cold by all the livable standards of the planets in the Ix'Zary system. It had several, small, roaming populations towards the poles, most greenery, flora, fauna, and the bodies of the human populations being constrained to the equator. Two oceans, four continents, and innumerable islands, most being encrusted in ice.

"Population of humans is unknown from probe scans. Number possibly three million across the globe, but precise estimates unknown. Pre-industrial development, no baser forms of long-range communication, no nuclear or electrical elements detected that appear man made. World-Gate found in population center of equator. Burn-Stone scans negligible. No presence of goa'uld or jaffa structures recognized in archives." Bokil explain. "Theorized that humans were left in isolation due to extreme cold and limited burn-stone in system, as well as no technological development that could threaten the goa'uld."

Fenrir grimaced, "Will likely have to barter for the ring. While possible it's still buried, could also be held in religious or cultural esteem." He had much to offer, but he needed this World-Gate as soon as possible. "Notify Ha'Gael to transfer several consutructors, enough Burn-Stone to empower three small, safe reactors for several years and schematics of the most basic insulation, electrical engineering and what else is needed to improve a primitive, extreme cold society on Ha'Gael's recommendation." He then pinged the console to teleport some of his personal effects, a few things he sorted out from one of Ha'Gael's storerooms. He'll attempt to negotiate from an even table, on land and walking to the city by foot and attempt to trade from there.

He wished the information was forwarded beforehand, however. He didn't even consider a colder climate. "Kanyto, do you receive?"

"Yes, my lo- Fenrir." She hastily replied. "In the armory. I am preparing several Spearguns for the party to follow you, though I would enjoy it if Ha'Gael could have forged us a Rol'Na. We do not know of these primitives capabilities."

"Ah, I suggest you focus your attention on finding both of us something warm to wear. We're not invading the people, we desire to form an accord and trade. They'll be intimidated by anything so… overt. Do you know how to use a sword?"

[][][]

" **Ix-Chel has fallen? From idiotic, rabble, vengeance fueled jaffa?** " The red-headed goa'uld chuckled, " **Wonderful. Might as well take the rest of her territory. Why settle for the outermost scraps?** "

The Raven-Headed jaffa First-Prime nodded to his goddess, "Shall I relay orders to the ships to scout ahead of these systems? Ix-Chel was quite militant, some forces may be left even after her demise."

" **Do so. These foolish westerling goa'uld will prove ripe for conquest, the Crone's expansion has left many desolated worlds in her wake.** " She shook her head and spoke to herself, " **Allowed herself to get killed by jaffa. Pathetic.** "

The First-Prime bowed at the shoulder before departing the deck of the Ha'Tak that was fashioned into the goa'uld's quarters. She clicked her fingers to the nearby human-slave, whom quickly took a knee at her throne, and asked, "What is your will?"

" **Send for a small group of jaffa to use a Tel'Tak, find the system Ix-Chel fell, collect any information you can and then return, how many ships, troops, did they get help from a goa'uld, absolutely any information.** "

"Yes, my lord Morrigan." The goa'uld spotted the momentary hesitation as he recalled the rule of referring to Morrigan as a lord, queen or goddess. Never lady. She flogged the last fool to death who spoke that in reference to her. Standing back up and striding towards one of the ring-teleporters leading to the surface of the world beneath them. One of the handful that Morrigan herself controlled, though has a few unwilling vassals nearby, but hopes that the coming war will assure her the title of System Lord.

Though, a part of her knew that was less of a concern of the agenda, what she really desired was more soldiers, weapons, anything at all. Sokar was breathing down the throats of the entire goa'uld empire, having been emboldened by Ra's death and now Apophis's capture.

[][][

Uunathwan, bright season, fifth day.

"Jah! Get your lazy ass over here! We need the wheat out of the caravan and back on the road by midday!" Jah's uncle ordered as he ordered his nephew out from a very shallow sleep. Grogily forcing himself to remove his arm that was covering his eyes from the light, but hissed and rolled onto his front. He groaned, batted his head against the wooden deck of the cart, where someone then pulled the tarp he was hiding under, snow falling off it and onto him, "Hell!" He cursed wiping the fluffy precipitation off him and looked at the one who insulted him from denying him his warm-up out of bed ritual.

"Brother." Deep brown, almost black, eyes looked up at Jah, framed by brown hair flicked with spots of yellow and white, nearer to the center of the head. "Get moving now, or uncle will beat _both_ of us."

"Pah!" Jah scoffed, "Just me. He likes you, Ngoml." Seeing his younger brother roll his eyes before slapping his boot as he departed.

"No more ale for a week, if this is what we are to work with in the morning." Ngoml warned, making Jah instantly sit up, get off the cart and rush past him and take hold of the nearest bag of wheat he could find.

"Good boy!" A tall, bald, portly man with a black beard, more frizzy then bushy, that stretched to the center of his chest declared, "Might actually work your worth today! It's only a couple hours walk to Qwol. Get this village what they paid for and I'll pay for the first round for everyone!" He declared, making the workers give a short cheer as they unloaded and took up various supplies that they were paid for by the council here or traded for raw materials that could sell higher in the city.

"Traga?" A tall and quite muscular woman with short black hair, Vitha, asked the caravan driver, "What about the rumors? I think we should just take our capital and head back south."

"Well, then it's a good thing you're not paid for what you think. You'd be broke." Traga waved a dismissive hand at her, "The Oskirk wouldn't have gotten an army all the way here without Debin or at least Yukop seeing something and calling for help. Why would they ignore the easier targets and head inland? Its hog wash." Smiling to his underling, "Don't worry. Get back to work, alright?"

Vitha sighed and nodded, "Yessir." Going back to load up the bartering tables they set up a few days ago.

When she was a few paces away, he dropped the smile. Honestly, he was beyond worried. Traga knew several officers in the autarch's army, and they've told him that the Oskirk as well as a few other tribes have been pushing against patrols, the ones they know about at least. The outer cities know how to hold against them. What about Uunathwan? Protected by the outer kingdoms and republics for so long may have made them soft if the wastemen grew bold enough to attempt to plunder this place and others close by.

That's why, as soon as the second morning unfurls, he's going to get a completely surprising warning that Tolp to the south has run a standing bounty for any caravan that could get there fastest with as many goods as they could carry. Traga would be absolutely shocked and excited for sure.

As Jah strode to his uncle's side carrying a massive sack, Jah asked, "Were we carrying visitors?"

Traga looked to the older nephew of his, "What do you mean?"

"A couple of strangers are asking for directions. Just two. No one else. We would've seen a column or another caravan if these two just got here. Barley can speak Yaf. Might wanna check it out." He grinned from ear to ear as he whispered, "The woman is quite the looker. I called dibs, so no ideas, old man." Walking to the village with his cargo.

Traga scoffed, "Get your head out of your ass boy! I better not catch you slacking when I come back!"

Jah waved back at him, smiling cheekily.

Traga looked up the caravan and followed the commotion to the newcomers.

The man was remarkably pale, paler then he's ever seen a man, quite tall and carried blue eyes. His features were sharp, and he had almost completely yellow hair.

The other, a woman, was only a couple niches shorter then he was, grey of hair despite her incredibly youthful appearance, skin more like the peoples in the area but carried a more reddened tone to it as if cooked by a fire and eyes of bright brown, almost as yellow as the man's head.

They both carried no marks of a city amidst heavy coats and robes of what was definitely not fur, leather or wool, smooth like plate steel yet flexible like any clothing, but did carry a bulk that muddled their body shapes past height.

The man spoke, "Gahh… uh got little clues on roads. Wish to find big ring. Is on city? Do look? Open to walks?" He spoke in quick bursts and thought pauses.

"Woof, nearly as pretty as the woman here! A couple more days on the road and I would have con-", One of Traga's men replied to him before the Traga himself declared:

"Oi! Back to work all of ya! If I want ya to talk to 'em, I'll get ya! Back at it!" Making the group disperse quickly, terrified of the consequences of their harsh caravan master. He walked up to the outsiders, and the man smiled gladly at him while the woman stared harshly at him and his hands before she looked around, watching the people nearby like a hawk.

"Who are you two and why are you here?"

"Apology." The man stated, "I… no practice with words with… Yaf. Little time and back will be." Pressing a hand to his chest, "Fenrir." Then gesturing to his accomplice, "Kanyto.", whom briefly looked back to the man at the saying of her name.

'Well, least they're not lying about the names. Or are real good at lying.' Traga thought. He looked over Fenrir, then noted the small grip coming out of the back of his right on his waist. "What do you have there, boy?"

Fenrir looked briefly confused before he smiled and declared, "Ah! Yes! Sword for hunts." Taking the short sword, still in sheathed, and allowing Traga to view it fully. Traga had to blink twice at its odd design, it seemed two sided, but the point was missing leaving only a flat 'head' at the end of the blade. It was a hammered bronze, but unusually smooth and organic that belied its texture, the scabbard a dark red, and the handle itself was fairly long, enough for two hand, the end having a flat, hammer like end. "I kill beast, I make sword." Putting it back, "Kanyto has bigger. God big. Could not bring. Would frighten all like child." He laughed and saw Kanyto fidget uncomfortably.

"Why are you here?" Traga repeated, patience running thin from the lack of communication skills of the new party. "Call me paranoid, but I'd also like to know where you're from."

"Ah, am from…" He looked distant as he tried to find the word, "Very far away. Much warmer there. Already missed."

"Shit, really? Even in this season?" Jah spoke as he walked to Traga's flank. "Can you take me and my brother with you? I got a strong back and good with my hands." Looking to Kanyto as he explained. "I'll even work for less then I get from this bas-" Getting smacked in the back of the head by his uncle.

Fenrir found it less then ideal to question the act and looked to the uncle, continuing with, "Am to city to find big ring. I hear it here in city. Would like to buy."

Traga's rage was momentarily scorched as he tried to hold back laughter from what the stranger just said. "What? Buy the Sacred Ring? Are you an idiot?"

Fenrir was taken aback, "No fool. Very good pockets. Would like-"

"The Ring is not only in the _prince's palace_ , it is guarded by the Church of Jahagol's Templars. Those guys would barely tolerate an outsider breathing in the same room with the Ring, let alone stroll in…" Taking his finger and thumb and squeezing them, " _pick it up_ , then leave the city. Coin or no coin, the only way to take the Ring is to burn the city to the snow around the blasted object."

"Though if I was guarding it, I'd know how you could bribe me." Jah recovered and presented his fist out towards Kanyto, "Jah of Bnin, son of Olgar. How can I please you?"

Jah expected the man to get defensive over what he presumed was his woman, but didn't expect him to laugh out loud in his face.

Kanyto asked Fenrir, her language completely unknown to the natives here, "Did this… mosquito say anything I should kill him for?"

Fenrir shrugged, looked to Kanyto, smiling, "Depends. If I was you, likely not, though not sure how I would react to an advance if I was the woman." He circled with his hand, "I'd say no, for the sake of your pride."

Kanyto grimaced and gave a small, spiteful glare as Fenrir turned back, her gaze turning menacing as it returned to Jah, fist still presented. She decided to try and appease Fenrir and quickly tapped his fist with her own.

The effort was a little greater then she anticipated, Jah shaking his fist lightly in pain. "Wow, you two really aren't from around here."

'Far too civilized to be spies sent from the Oskirk.' The lack of threats, huffing, puffing, stomping and cursing was a firm element of this. 'Could be spies from elsewhere. Nearby nation perhaps? Can't pin the accent down, and these clothes, they look more fit for a noble then secretive rabble.' "Jah, get the sacks off to the village. Now."

His nephew knew from experience that when Traga ordered in a more quiet tone, it was now infinitely more serious. Even he didn't wish to tempt fate in this, his smile fading and went into a light jog to dispensing cargo.

Traga looked to the man, "My name is Traga, of Sogol, son of Oriph. I lead this trading caravan, and am allowed within the city." He pointed at Fenrir, "I will allow you to come with use for five gold. Immediately."

'Idiot.' He cursed himself, 'I think I worded 'wealth' wrong.' He only had on him the small samplings of Hierarchy currency. Reaching into his pocket, he retrieved the five pieces of gold circles, as well as the same number of silver, copper and two ducats. The currency fit into his palm neatly as he pulled it out and presented it to the man.

Traga looked skeptically, taking a piece of gold and silver, biting them and trying to bend them. Satisfied with the result he gestured with his chin, "What are these then?" Taking up a square ducat. "What will these get me?" Running a finger across the laser inscriptions of the wolf in the center and code at the bottom, impressed with its fine precision.

"Here? Not sure." Fenrir shrugged, "Where I come from; a great deal. Three more… ducats… and many goods from home."

Considering the craftsmanship of both the 'ducat' and what is on their forms, he considered it an even trade, even if the gold and silver coins were not of traditional value of currency between the cities of the area, they were still gold and silver, worth their weight in and of themselves.

He nodded, "Fine then. We will leave soon. You get the cart in the back. Lady," Looking to Kanyto, "if Jah makes any further advances, you may break two bones of his. Don't make them too vital." Leaving them where they stood and yelling at some of his crew, to hasten their efforts, "Time is wealth, whelps! Move it!"

"What did the bearded one say to me?" Kanyto inquired as she followed Fenrir to the rear of the line of hooded carts.

"Uh, if the mosquito bugs again, you may…" He irked his smile into a wry line, "Dispatch him at your leisure, but don't kill or cripple him."

[][][]

Hassir groaned, leaving the small capsule, the Quickening still running through her veins, her head aching like a sharp, glowing iron prod was slowly digging into through the center of her skull. The flashing images and audio the learning capsule forced upon her didn't lessen the symptoms, as much as inflaming them. She was given a break, as long as she desires, for water, food and easing her eyes, then she was to be tested in if what she was instructed at such a rapid pace had stuck. The last session, before she is relieved, and may fully rest. Uneasily walking to a large jar of water in the back of the chamber, pacing past other capsules in the room that have been emptied, being surrounded by other jaffa who have recently been released as well, cups dipping into the jar and swallowing cupful after cupful, the accelerant taking a higher toll then simple pains, sapping most moisture and nutrition from them.

These usually brief breaks were often met only with famished silence, all concentration had in devouring the bowls of porridge and barrels of water. This, was met by smiles, relief, and the occasional chuckle and slap on the shoulder trying to keep a fellow nearby from drifting to a standing sleep.

Hassir thought briefly of the tax that would be levied against a human's body when one takes these courses. Only briefly. Her thoughts focused on the reflection in the large, clay drum of life giving moisture. The sigil just above the bridge of her nose was gone, the three-peaks of Ka-Palor, gone. She has had the mark for as long as she can remember. Now, in its place was nothing. Only she existed.

"Lord Hassir?" A man to her right asked calmly, the voice foreign to her, a part of him appearing in just the periphery of the water's reflection. Turning, the first thing she noted in place of the marking that was now void upon herself and many others, the man still had one. Not of peaks, not of the crone, but of a dart, knife or sword of some kind, extremely simple point, blade and end, all through a half circle, the tip peaking at the bottom of the curve, the mark was white against dark skin. He looked young, slightly older then Kanyto for sure, scars clawing from his chin to his right brow, three of them. The last, and possibly worst thing she noticed, was his eyes. Blue, rare in this area, darker of hue when compared to Fenrir's, but the worst oddity was when she looked into them, they were dull, even as she gazed into them, nothing, not even her, reflected back. His robes were heavy, even in the sweltering heat, and hid most of his mass especially around his shoulders and back.

"Not for much longer." Hassir spoke to the newcomer, dropping the cup into the barrel, another jaffa greedily supping from it anew. "Temporary lord of the army. Who are you?"

"My name is unimportant, call me Grigh'hori." The man explained. "I and… several other prominent jaffa desire your thoughts on a matter, something that would be best spoken of in more private conditions." Gesturing to a nearby door. It led out of the instruction chamber, to a hall, the door guarded by Apex warriors.

Hassir remained skeptical, "Be brief. I have little time for people with no name."

He gave a slight nod in thanks, following her out of the door, ignoring the guard as soon as it closed. "Ah, much better. Do not worry of these two warriors, they've already heard me speak enough as is."

"Get on with it. You're interrupting my recovery meal."

"I and several notable jaffa are in the process of making a special group." He spoke candidly, but veiled of reason, "We are placing resources, people and information into this group in order for it to serve, to its fullest, the strength and influence of all jaffa."

Hassir's eyebrow quirked, "Ahhh, a political group then? Odd that you come-"

"It is as much more than political, it is more… functional, lord." Grigh'hori interrupted, "We are called Claymore. A force of jaffa, made to serve jaffa. Whether it be our siblings here or those still under tyranny of the goa'uld, we will make certain that the jaffa become a true force in this galaxy."

She glared at him, "Claymore? A military group? Outside of the command structure of the Hierarchy?" She waved a dismissive hand, "To publically announce my support, then trust that you do what duty you claim? Moronic to say the least."

"Then do not proclaim. Heh, in fact we would appreciate it more if you did not."

Hassir nearly growled, "I do not enjoy what you are alluding to. A secret group, with people with no name, needing my support? Getting warriors and materials without the military, for the moment _my military_ , not knowing? Trickery of this degree is for goa'uld, broaching of godhood so thin, it could be ripped with a breeze of wind."

"Indeed? Very well." Grigh'hori shrugged, sounding not in the least bit disappointed, "If you change your mind, draw this…" Tapping on the mark upon his head, "Get some chalk and make this upon your dwelling's door. It need not be perfect. We will understand its meaning." Beginning his walk down the hall, "We will be watching, temporary lord."

Hassir's eyes blazed with insult, looking to the nearest guard at the wall, "You! I want to turn your armor's memory to a scanner! Find this man!"

The warrior did not reply, nor did the other.

Hassir reached for the chest piece of the warrior, "Your lord has-" The armor, woman inside within it, fell to the ground as soon as she touched her, and out of the helm came a river of blood.

This Grigh'hori killed these two warriors, then somehow stilled their armor so they stood, all without firing a weapon and keeping the women at attention.

][][][]

Uunath

"The place stinks worse than the Capital did." Kanyto commented as they walked down a stone and wooden laden street, crowded with people, stalls and the coming convoy.

Fenrir looked curiously at her, "I was under impression that you were only on Ix'Zary during the invasion."

She shook her head, "I was at the city for a time, nearly a month. It was several weeks before Ix-Chel's invasion came to the system and many jaffa fled to Hijin."

"What was the reason then? Slumming it?" He chuckled.

Kanyto rolled her eyes, "I was looking for my father."

He blinked, "I assumed he was dead."

"You are correct." The jaffa discipline managed to creep in, Fenrir noticing the sudden clenching of the jaw, her facial expression becoming rigid, muscles constrained even as lips moved as she continued to explain, "He was dying of a wasting disease. Half-breeds are more susceptible to diseases and weaknesses then humans, but are too physically human for the jaffa womb to work effectively, and still have the jaffa trait of being resistant to goa'uld infestation. Mix breeds are condemned, in the eyes of goa'uld, for very good reasons." She shrugged as the pair passed a roudy pub, the stench of burnt bread and alcohol wafting out. "We managed to commune. Enough for me to weep when he soon passed. He was a good man. I…" She looked down, distracted, "Regretted not knowing him longer."

Kanyto was brought out of her small stupor when he felt Fenrir's hand clench firmly on her shoulder. He nodded to her, "Regrets. I wish I could honor the man that, despite the terrain, made a wonder in a wretched landscape." He then slapped the shoulder in a friendly manner, and smiled, "Come! Let us see this palace. The sooner we make a deal, the sooner we can sample the local spirits, see if this a world worth coming back to."

Kanyto was momentarily dazed, before forcing her duty to the fore and ignoring the sudden hot-cold shock from Fenrir's words. "Y-Yes, my lord."

Fenrir chuckled dryly, "I assume it's that one." Pointing at the stone-building that dwarfed all other buildings in sight. Not nearly as unsightly as the palace Fenrir saw demolished and his own domain being erected upon its ashes, but was fundamentally lacking in renovations, with outer walls crumbling, inefficient looking lookouts, and rough wooden, hastily made structures leaning off the building like tumors, warts or what blights that would plague the appearance as much as the function. "The city must have sprung around the place, while it was designed to be a singular fortification or military staging point."

"I still say we come here with at least a cabal." Kanyto suggested. "We do little in the way of showing our superiority or what we can offer if we wander into this city like vagrants."

"These people are not jaffa." He looked to her, "Even if they were, strength of arms and sophisticated weaponry can only earn so much respect. We must show that we are not just representatives of a foreign domain, but one that shows it is willing to walk on the same ground as its people, shoulder to shoulder."

"It's too easy for a rogue to stick a knife in when they are shoulder to shoulder, as you said."

"Quite, but we are not worms. We honor risk, especially if it's needed for highest efficiency and for those who would be partners or members of the Hierarchy to know that while our paths may be different, we are all people of reason."

The walk to the lowered bridge, lying over a moat of all things, they were instantly beset by a trio of guards. Two were in plate armor, steel from the looks of it, but mostly consisted of fur and leather, and in their hands they carried spears as long, if not longer, they were tall but the third, the captain of them it looked like, wore a large, hat that had the head of a snarling feline creature, spear replaced by a sword at his hip, hand on its grip while he extended a hand out at the approaching pair and yelled, "Halt!" The other two soldiers marching on the man's flank, back several paces, optimizing the range of their weapon while still being in proximity to cover their leader.

Fenrir's language digestion was coming on smoothly, if forcibly so. His mind turned over new words with understood definitions, holding up his hands, "We will comply. We seek your leader, master or lord. I wish to initiate peaceful trade between our peoples."

"Where do you hail?"

"A land a long distance away, called Ix'Zary. May I please speak to the one who can authorize trade for what I offer? 'Tis the first time our respective kinds make contact, a higher official or lord would be most appreciated."

[][][]][[

Mamwe's eyes stared at the city, his band having gathered at the cusp of a hill, preparing for the attack. "Looks like a new caravan. More plunder and spoils." He told his lieutenant.

"Gargin will be here in half a day to support-"

"I won't wait for that stunted little dog to take a single sheaf of grain! We strike now! Get the steeds ready!"

[][][]

Prince Vashes hastily struggled with his belt, still amateur in skill with dressing himself with a single arm. Refusing attendants who offered to assist him, he was quickly ushering himself out of his room, little more than half dressed in his formal armor, having difficulty clenching the brace-tie around his neck.

"Sire, we have to check your eye! Make certain it does not get-!" A short, squirrelly medical attendant, detached from the Coalition's remedial platoon nearby.

"I'll not be killed from a disease that has not been treated in but a sprinkling of hours. You will attend to me later, annoy somebody else in the meantime." Vashes dismissed the squirrel with a cyclopean glare.

"Sire." He bowed slightly before scampering off in the opposite direction.

As the prince quickly walked down a plain set of stone stairs that led down to an extravagant gold and crimson in color hall, adorned with both tapestries and gold encrusted gas-lights, a fully armored sergeant came out of one of the nearby rooms. "Talg!" The prince exclaimed with a smile. "Tell me about these outsiders! I must give them thanks for giving the excuse to deny the shifty medical official from fucking my vacant eye socket with that oil-scented phallus of his!"

Talg of Kur, Son-of-None (though most are fairly convinced that the man was belched from the womb of the Sea of Frost itself), gave a curt nod, his equivalency of a jovial smile, "Sire. There are two, they claim to be from a place called Ix'Zary and offer a great boon of some kind and promise of trade. I do not like the eyes of the man." He gestured to the door he came out of, "They carry a… spark of ferocity. Barbarity. They maybe some kind of wastelanders."

"If they can talk in complex words and did not kill anyone on the way here, they probably aren't." Finally satisfied with his uniform, he sighed, "How do I look?"

Talg looked the prince up and down, "Half blind. Fashion-wise. But acceptable, sire." He jibed plainly.

Vashes scoffed a puff of slightly bruised ego out of his nose, but still smiled, "Watch yourself, Sergeant. I can still kick your ass with only one arm." Opening the door for the prince.

[][][]

As soon as the man walked into the room, Fenrir was able to easily detect surface thoughts, laced with his emotions, it all refreshingly open compared to the jaffa he had to contend with on the three day journey from Ix'Zary to Ymorin. He stood up with his seat, Kanyto mirroring him not a second after and he smiled, "Ah! Prince Vashes! Glad to make your acquaintance!"

"Yes, yes, you're from a faraway land and desire trade?" He snapped his fingers, a scribe rushing forward with a bone-pen and parchment. "What do you want? How far is your land? Do others of the Coalition trade or are aware of you? I do not enjoy dallying with a project that you could have solved by going to the city's Trader Guild."

Kanyto whispered, "We can crash the VES through the window. That would certainly gain some deference."

"We are not doing that." Fenrir whispered back, eyes darting between the massive sets of stained windows and the prince, "Yet." Switching back to the native tongue, "I desire the Sacred Ring. In exchange, I will offer you and your kind the benefits and secrets of personal-power-generation." Regretting that there was no word for 'electricity' in their vocabulary.

"Yet another piss-seller. What is this 'personal-power-generation'? And why is it worth more than my people's heritage?"

'Now, we begin the impressing.' Fenrir clicked on a communicator on his wrist, "Rahim? Window. Show off, stationary hover. Deactivate cloak, kick on one of the plasma engines and turn off stealth-silence. Give the people a bit of noise. I'll try to get them to the roof, you can unload the automata and materials from there."

The blocky VES quickly materialized out of the vision of the prince, and as soon as the loud plasma jet blared, the prince and the guard quickly ducked their head and pointed at the window.

Fenrir gave a sharp hand chop to his neck to the pilot, the plasma jet turning off. Gesturing to the vehicle outside, "This is what you can make with what I offer, if you're well practiced!"

The prince was immensely intrigued, despite his guard's reservations, after everything quieted down.

It took some explaining on how what Fenrir was trading, not giving him, was the building blocks that could eventually lead to similar creations. As if Fenrir was teaching him and his people how to make and lay bricks for a shelter, kiln or what not.

The prince was intrigued by the idea of 'electricity', being able to heat thousands of homes with just some lengths of cord, several 'heating coils', a few power-modules to insure stable, safe flow of this energy to where it is needed, then a reactor. That, through experimentation and innovation, by their own hands, they could equal or eventually surpass the construct Fenrir summoned out of what seemed to be thin air.

As the group made to the roof of the massive castle made palace, Prince Vashes explained several aspects of the world's society, with a majority of the nearby republics, kingdoms and city-states such as his own being drawn in a confederation of cooperation and mutual defense, called the Middle-Coalition, as most of these nations are focused on the equator and require a great deal of coordination in order to defend against vicious assaults from the eastern empires, the wasteland raiders from the frozen lands north and south, and the zealots of the second continent, willing to butcher the men, women and children of this coalition in the name of their deities.

No signs of goa'uld presence, and a world that already has a focus on more individualistic attitudes, rather than the more primitive, collective aspects reserved only for the most primal ways of sapient function.

It was also explained that the World-Gate was a key focus of the people's faiths on this land, Fenrir did note the occasional small-ring tattoo or pendants. That, when Uunathwan was once a mighty empire, generations ago, took the ring from the Second Continent. To Fenrir, this was a massive inconvenience; a Control Module for a World-Gate was almost as valuable as the damned ring itself, and making a replacement would not only be an extreme tax of resources and time, but also due to the likely fact it still exists in possibly hostile terrain, to plague them later if they ever discovered its use and its relationship to the ring. He couldn't just demonstrate the gate's use, take them to a random backwater and come back, point proven, trade for the ring and eventually come back with another to replace the one they lost.

Breaking down the World-Gates use and what it was actually used for was no easy task, taking Fenrir two days for Vashes to merely doubt his theological stand-point and contemplate the possibility of other worlds, greener, plentiful and full of other humans like himself existed. The guards, more religious faculty then military, were tempted to attack for the blasphemies he dared corrupt the prince with, but was stopped by the prince's warrior, Talg, every time. Which was a pleasant surprise, while he doubted Fenrir's authenticity, he was willing to question or at least, allow others to question and not seem overtly opposed.

Though somewhat secular, the people of these lands carried the faith of their gods and prophets close to their hearts. To disregard it and disprove its authenticity could be considered insulting, in the least, and Fenrir understood this, more then he wished.

"Do you not believe in any gods then?" Vashes asked, a sour, desperate tone to his voice. "Do you not desire a higher power, guiding you in this life to the next?"

Fenrir tried not to crack a joke about any 'higher powers'. "The only higher powers I know of killed billions of people to assure their position in this reality, and even now, are blistered and tumored with vanity, pride and apathy that plagued them in their mortal coils. I worship, if it can be called that, the Eternals. Three aspects of reality that branch into its infinite complexes: creation, change and destruction, all circling, feeding, and in harmony with one another, coveted only because they exist in all things; big, small, mortal, immortal, living, non-living. Every atom of existence, even time, is connected to all three. But if a temple is desired to pray for these things and understand the blessings they have given you, you'd need only a mirror: the iron in your blood was once the matter that burned in the brightest stars. The air you breathe is part of a world, through hell and fire, struggled to become what it is now, knowing the fury of the universe at the moments of its childhood and adolescence, billions of years before the air that is in your lungs became tangible enough to support any life at all, past its simplest of forms."

These meager explanations of what and who Fenrir was, mangaged to soften the prince somewhat. He's invested so much faith and emotion into not only the people who broached his beliefs, but in the hopes that the injuries that inflict him, the pain and suffering of centuries untold _meant_ something, that it had a plan that would see all people, at the end of it, enlightened and fulfilled.

"Then come with us." Fenrir offered.

Vashes blinked, "What?"

"Come visit my world. You may take a detachment of guards if you feel it necessary, but we will leave the automata to do their work, you come to my world with the World-Gate and see what the land I come from holds. No plan, divine or otherwise, matters beyond what you, yourself, create. So allow me to help you in making it."

[][][]


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

"The only payment for this tour I ask is that, among whomever you need to accompany you, you bring a storyteller, a historian, a man or woman dying of sickness and a representative of your most populous religion. A couple of spirits to drink wouldn't hurt. The trip is two, maybe three, days long." Fenrir continued to explain to the prince Vashes as the Automata carried their materials out of the VES, to be taken to a ward in the castle and converted to a power-plant. They would then be supplied and furnished what they would need to insulate the palace itself, as well as several nearby buildings. The translation of electronic engineering is still needing to be finished into Yaf by Bokal, having sent the information he's gathered via telepathic impulse of the local denizens, but a mind-core could finish the process while Bokal took them back home.

Vashes was unbecomingly eager for the trip, quickly gathering a party before the court could catch wind of what was happening and try and stop him. "What about food? Any provisions needed?"

"Nay, all of the baser needs shall be fulfilled, though would warrant against trying the green slime. Bokal may have the same culinary tastes as his mother." Fenrir smiled.

[][][

Jah laughed uncontrollably as he swaggered out of the tavern, being pushed out by a collection of three workers from his caravan and one of the local patrons that he managed to cheat in dice. The man's muscular bulk was more cumbersome, and the added gallons of drink only forced his considerably mass to be even that more difficult to force out of the watering-hole that he has repeatedly insulted.

As they managed to shove Jah onto tread riddled slush, laughter being replaced by curses. Groggily, he stood up and started swiping the snowy muck from his front, giving a final scornful look at the tavern before heading up towards the caravan line. Most of the carts had separated from the line, being dragged by hand to the front of either the tavern or the road across from it, many unable to afford a room in the stay-night. While technically illegal, many of the guards don't give two flamboyant farts, due to the revenue and supplies caravans bring in, so many went out of their way to allow such trivialities, up to a certain point. Any crimes, then the other members of the caravan are hit harder than a pashuut in a snow storm. 'It would at least break up the monotony.' Jah thought, sighing. 'We're on the road again in the morning. To yet another city or village.' Having a moment of drunken frustration at the repetition, but most of all, the quieting sensation that this is all his life will amount to. Jah had little doubt that Ngoml will inherit the caravan if their uncle decides to retire or makes his final croak towards paradise, not that it bothered him, and Jah will be there to help him, but is that, _this_ , the beginning, middle and end of his own story? Being the hand in some caravan until he too dies or grows too infirm to continue it? He is nearly twenty-six winters old, and the highlights of his life have been getting drunk, pushing over the odd cow and then finding a quiet place to sleep.

Hefting himself up a cart with an open top and laying down, staring at the stars.

"Jah." He looked to the side and saw Ngoml, plain faced though undoubtedly disappointed. "You alright?"

"Fine." He turned yawned, smiling, "They didn't appreciate a sense of humor."

"You insulted the owner's mother, I'm just surprised he didn't tell his underlings to kick in your teeth."

Jah didn't reply, continuing to look up at the sky. He continued his idleness when Ngoml hopped on the cart and layed down beside him, "See the stars do anything crazy?"

"The ancestors are bored it seems." Pointing lazily at the sky. "Must be one of _those_ nights."

"What's bothering you?" Ngoml asked after several moments.

"Nothing."

"Lies."

"Fuck off."

"Wish I could. But older brother is acting like a sour, old woman."

Jah briefly looked away from the night and glared a pair of holes at his sibling.

"What's bothering you?" Ngoml repeated.

Jah's face eased, almost like it was settling in both the inevitability of his occupation alongside requiring to answer Ngoml. "I'm… I don't know. I just want to do something… _more_ than this. There has to be something, anything, better than this."

"Sure, but unless you have been hiding some papers that proves we're noble-born, not much better can be done."

Jah rolled his eyes, "You know it only takes a chest of gold to make someone noble. What's the point of the papers then?"

"Well, they're technically worth a chest of gold. Sounds valuable to me."

Jah gave a small smile, "Touché."

"What do you want to do?"

One of the simplest, yet, most complex of questions, Jah shrugged, "I dunno. Just… want to have something better then to wake up, move shit and make money, rinse-repeat, day after day."

"Well, there's always the army? You could join when we get back home."

"I promised mother that I wouldn't leave you alone. If I do join them, you will be alone for possibly _ten_ years, with me guarding some random coalition city with little ability to write."

"What have we left then?"

Jah shrugged again, forcing a smile, "Don't worry about it. I'm sure this moping is only temporary. Just need another mead."

He heard Ngoml sigh, "Have it your way. Don't go back in, I'll bring you one."

Jah nodded towards him, "Thanks, you're the best."

Several moments after Ngoml left the cart and started back to the tavern, Jah heard his brother ask aloud, "What's that?"

Piquing Jah's curiosity, he sat up and saw Ngoml looking towards the gate, a warm, orange light starting to come over the wall. Squinting slightly, "What the…"

He was interrupted when someone at the turret behind the gate began banging away at the alarm-bell.

Jah's thought processes cancelled out immediately running to Ngoml and yelling, "Run! We're under at-!"

The orange light over the gate became suddenly dim as the flaming boulder smashed through a section of wall that thundered through the stone and sent debris raining on both of them.

[][]

They were leaving. Fenrir as well as all his personnel and materials were quickly regathering atop the castle to leave in the VESs.

The moment the visitors heard of a siege, Fenrir knew that it was no longer neither safe nor wise to continue the construction of the power plant or continue assembling the diplomatic entourage to come with him to Ix'Zary.

Of course Vashes attempted to, briefly, request any aid they could offer, where he then immediately began to rally the defenders of the city.

As Fenrir began to make the steady climb to the roof, he was intercepted by Kanyto, "My lord, is this truly the best option?"

He looked surprised at her, "You wish to defend the city, then? Thought you loathed the place."

"Bad smell doesn't mean bad people." Kanyto continued, thankfully nowhere near as direct as her prior master Hassir.

"Neither does attacking a city. We have no information on why these people are attacking, nor if defending the city would be in our best interest. We are here for a job. Get the chappa'ai."

She looked on him with a mix between shock and outrage, "You would take the ring after the Calvary-army sacks the city?"

"Does it matter how the object is obtained?"

"Of course it does!" Kanyto declared, making Fenrir stop and look back to her. "Innocents will be harmed and killed if the pillagers reach further in!"

Fenrir grimaced, "It is not our place. We just met these people for trade, not to fight their wars _for them_." As they crossed the threshold to the roof and began pacing towards the hovering shuttle.

"We would let them suffer from apathy alone? When we knew we could have helped?"

Fenrir stopped just at the steps of the shuttle, the words of his companion running through his mind until they found a memory thousands of years old;

 _The child is without mother or father, scattered to the wind after the attack and pillage of the family on the road by a group of bandits._

 _Yet the child survived. But could it_ live _after this?_

 _Could he, knowing he could have prevented it?_

 _This child whom soon would be accepted as his own?_

Fenrir's lips formed a firm, thoughtful line. Is he returning to his old ways then? Would he find himself on a water-ship at sea in a few decades time in some remote backwater, just like Adaern and Thabel found him?

Are the lessons he learned from his ten-thousand years for nothing?

[][][]

Vashes looked back on his steed as the flying 'engine' shot up towards the dark skies.

"What do we do, sire?"

"Gather all the people and supplies we can to the castle. We hold for as long as we can, or until the Coalition send an army."

"The horde outside will assure our wait won't be very long in either case." Talg shrugged.

"They have mobile catapults throwing what looks to be some kind of blackpowder-boulder, ripping through the gate like it was nothing."

At least they knew it was the Oskirk. They were world famous for their black powder inspired thunder weapons that all but ignored armor, alongside being predominantly on horseback. It was something that made the various priests and alchemists across the Coalition both mad and jealous with envy, wanting any kind of method to replicate it, being only briefly usable to southerners when taking it off of the dead or conquered.

"Well, they had to wise up to those shitty rock throwers eventually." Vashes scoffed, thinking. "They shouldn't have much in the way of ammunition. As soon as they expend it, or stop, they'll charge. We bottleneck them with what troops we can. Get the crossbowmen to what high ground is left, halberds to the center. We're dead if we try to stop them on even ground." Feeling his own wounds, now old scars, itch at the order.

[][]

'Please, please don't be dead…' Ngoml wished he could verbally exclaim, but was physically exhausted from dragging his brother, partially crushed by debris from a building, across the war-torn streets, the heat of blackstone fires roasting both of them as they passed, while only briefly met with the staggering cold typical of the Bright Seasons.

Amidst the panic, no one had tried to help Ngoml save his brother, rushing towards the castle in the center of the city. As he spotted a tight alley to hide themselves with, Ngoml felt tears sting his eyes as his body began to fully fail him, dropping to the ground and seeing what he saw was his lifeless older brother's body.

Fate turned crueler still, as a lull in the bombardment was followed by the war cries of the Oskirk army charging through the decimated gate, down the path towards the pair of brothers.

Ngoml stared in disbelief, but still resigned to oblivion, the six-hoofed beasts carrying brutal warriors that would stomp them both to froth underfoot.

Save, the front columns were suddenly either shredded limb from limb or were shot clean off their steeds, a floating, block of copper-metal magically appearing above them, seemingly emerging from the night itself.

He saw the wandering pair on the road outside earlier in the day, jump out of the yawning mouth of the hovering, metal beast, with five others, brandishing some odd looking crossbows that held no string or arrow magazine begin firing down at the approaching army in a conjoined formation, and as a fireball of coblerock and blackstone reached over the gate, the man pushed his hands together in a clapping motion, the scattered debris flying into a communal wall in front of the group, the explosion being only barely withheld but staved off all of the shrapnel. Dropping the pose, the debris fell to the ground once more, as the if the ghosts that possessed them were at his command, barking orders in a strange language and pointing at motes of cover where the other six members of his party took, crossbows carefully trained on the breach.

Ngoml heard Jah take a ragged, pained breath, the younger of the two began weeping in relief and terror as he rested his head on Jah's chest.

It must have caught the wanderer's attention, as he was quickly next to them and spoke to his forearm, the hovering-beast descending and two skinny strangers, made of nothing but bone and metal, looked to both him and Jah. In his shocked state, he couldn't consciously resist the skinny-ones as they guided him to the beasts' mouth, the other carrying Jah. The mouth closed, and a dim red light filled the innards, as if the beast's soul became manifest and stared hungrily at him.

Ngoml slowly lost consciousness, eyes drifting close as he felt the last efforts of body give way, mind numb at the prospect of the beast carrying him and his brother far above the clouds and to the ancestors above even that.

[][][]

"Why not send down for the ship to destroy the army?" Kanyto inquired as she kept her Spear-Rifle ready against some cover.

Fenrir grimaced, "Firing mass weaponry in orbit through atmo is tricky, Bokal isn't equipped mentally for it. He would need assistance in targeting, if he fires blindly or by his current faculty's, he'd just as likely destroy the city, us along with it, as the army arrayed against us."

Kanyto felt sweat gather on her brow, even in the burning cold. "We don't even have our armor. We won't last too long as we are."

"Oh, you complain now, do you?" Fenrir chuckled, "No suicide-mission quota? Keeps life interesting."

"By the… of course not, I do not seek my own demise!"

"Well, I may have possibly sealed all of our fates…" Looking to the other jaffa in cover, hearing a new wave of mounted infantry approach. "You're missing out." He then sighed, "Well, I'm more concerned about something else. Lot of lonely men coming here."

Kanyto rolled her eyes, "Don't worry. I won't let them rape you."

Fenrir and the other party members chuckled.

More six limbed beasts carrying crudely armored warriors cried out from the open gate, where Fenrir commanded, "Fire at will!"

The horrid stew created from the patterned fire of the line of outsiders caused what could be seen as a faint mist beginning to form due to the vast amounts of heat being released by their victims and their mounts, the conjoined condensation from bodily releases molding together in a massive exhalation of naked blood, organs and fat into the frigid climate.

Despite how advanced the spear-guns were, they were inferior in a single regard to the various goa'uld-jaffa weaponry; ammunition limits. As the horde continued to press upon them, fearless despite their fellow's ahead grisly fates, two of the party yelled out, "Ammunition exhausted!" Quickly removing the pod on the underside of the rifle, allowing the enemy to approach their position.

As they did so, Fenrir heard the popping of crude projectile weaponry, the primitive projectiles still being enormously lethal, more so now that they were lacking armor.

Fenrir ran his hand across the ground, his telekinesis dragging rubble in the path of the invaders, forcing the shells sent from them to be blocked but also denying shots from his own troops.

"Fall back in dual formation! Go!" Fenrir commanded, keeping his rifle on track, but cursed when it cut short of its own ammunition.

[]][]

"The outsiders are holding back the Oskirk!"

The moment prince Vashes heard the news, he forced away any sense of elation or relief from it, knowing that he needed to use the time given to them wisely and ensure that his people are safe and the army's position inside the walls can take over upon the event, if and when, they are overwhelmed. Quickly using the lull to his advantage, he sent out spare riders through uncontested passageways out of the city to gain assistance from nearby cities, levying the crossbowmen to the elevated positions towards the breach.

[][][][]

Fenrir's flatblade cleaved across the ankles of an oncoming beast, toppling both the creature and its rider to the ground, to be then shot by a crewman.

Fenrir had now focused on cutting down riders that managed to make it though both the patterns of weapon fire and hastily built obstructions that were meant to funnel or deter the Calvary charges. Even with his own abilities and the skills and weapons of his jaffa compatriots, they were being pushed back steadily, and even with Fenrir's focus on minimalizing fire exposure, he's lost two women from sporadic, random fire of the primitive weapons.

As he launched forward with a telekinetic push that would shove any minor weapon fire from striking his group further, he heard Kanyto give a sharp bark of pain.

Fenrir's focus was broken on the battle as his gaze snapped to his compatriot's form, now laying on the ground, blood beginning to slush the snow under her as she held a hand to her injury, while gripping her rifle with the other.

Fenrir sped directly towards her, picking her up quickly and placing her against an improvised surface and making certain she could still hold up her rifle as she looked to her wound, pressing a hand to it after he clicked a rune on his wrist and yelled, "Medic!" A red automata was Jump teleported down in a flash of yellow, quickly bowing low and various instruments poking and scanning the wound.

"Deep wound, lead based shavings, soft metal likely embedded in bone, severe hemorrhaging, requires immediate attention and surgery." The voice of Bokal echoed through the machine-platform without neither care nor worry.

Not that hearing either would have stopped Kanyto from placing the barrel of her gun in front of its head, "Numb the pain and stop the bleeding, I will not abandon this fight." She ordered.

Fenrir forced his worry to the side from the sight, knowing worry would only insult this warrior. "Do as she say, get her back in this fight and-!" Fenrir turned away from the machine and fired at nearby targets with Kanyto's rifle, quickly felling them before they came too close. "Recover the dead, then get back to a safe distance and see what you can do with the injured natives." Thrusting the rifle back into his comrade's waiting hand, "Watch my back, Godslayer."

Fearing only further waves of enemies will eventually overwhelm them, Fenrir had to switch tactics away from attrition to manipulation, locking eyes with the crumbled gate and reaching out with his will and began to manipulate them. Closing his eyes when he felt the great masses of stone begin to head his exertions, he lifted both hands up, sending the crushed boulders aloft with several Calvary members along for the ride, crushing his hands together then thrusting them down onto the mushy pavement bellow, the crumbled and crushed stone forming a rigid shape as it carved down through the air and slammed secure in the breach. Hardly a notable bulwark, but would give them enough time to reorganize. Not that the effort was needed, in hindsight.

Just as the seemingly godly act on Fenrir's part of remaking a barrier from rubble and nothing seemed to hit the Oskirk, volleys of arrows began to rain down on bewildered forces, rows of halberdiers rushing past his meager force and forming a tight formation against any further attacks.

Fenrir spotted a mote of movment amongst the dead, seeing the newly wounded Oskirk begin to muddle into a crouch as he tried to retreat back. Fenrir smiled at the opportunity, which was quickly dashed as another volley of arrows started to come upon him. He reached out, shielding the area on and around the survivor, soon to be his prisoner from the volley. He roared, "CEASE FIRE! TAKE ME TO YOUR PRINCE!"

[]

"He should have been killed…" Vashes scoffed, "First you heal him, then you give him a steed? He has information on this city, and will turn his army to a better vantage where we will be pressed to redeploy."

"Wait…" Fenrir looked through the eyeglass.

"I swear by the ancestors, you and yours will-"

He held up a hand, "Just wait, trust me, you'll love this." He slid the spyglass closed and clicked a rune, speaking so that the prince could understand him as he gave the order, "Bokal, if you would be so kind as to throw a stone or two at the tracking beacon."

"Yes, lord."

"Stone? What is-?"

[][]

"Boy! Why do you live where your brothers do not!"

The lone survivor amongst the untold number of dead raiders was beaten like a stray to make him truthful and brought before the band's warlord.

"T-they-! I do not know, they spoke nothing as a metal man with no flesh healed me then gave me a steed and pointed out a gate I could use to leave!"

The Oskirk, having enough, shot the miscreant for his moon-speak and frustratingly ordered, "Trace back his path to the opening and make a new breach! This city will…" His voiced drifted to silence as he looked up in the morning sky and saw the thick clouds part as masses of iron and nickel began to turn the hillside, and his army that rested upon it, into shattered slag.

[[[[]

"Oh, so they were hiding there… makes sense. I would have warranted putting a watch tower or sentry there, not now though." He chuckled, "What's the point, can't hide an army behind nothing."

Prince Vashes's mouth was agape from shock, the first 'stone' had shot through the hill and shattered the ground behind it, while the other decimated the actual location and shot up vast amounts of debris and gore mixed between each other from the force, thankfully, far from the city and the prince's shocked state.

"So, I have been reconsidering our deal." Fenrir said nonchalantly, the prince feeling cold sweat drip down his temple at the prospect of him using the weapon he just witnessed on his city.

"We'll find another Ring, somewhere else. The machines will continue building the power generator and translating the schematics for your people to begin experimenting. In exchange, you get your Coalition to get the dialing device back from that other continent, dial an address I have written down first thing and send a 'short-wave' transmission through the gate. Oh, and place the gate out somewhere nice in the palace so I can actually walk out of it, I'll be checking on you every so often."

Prince Vashes muttered quietly, "Okay?"

Fenrir lightly tapped his fist against his shoulder, "Good man, in the mean, do you still wish to visit Ix'Zary?"

]

One day later-

"I tell you; the symbol is unmistakable. As are the man's features." Hassir pointed at the Automata. "Send whatever drones you have to scour the city for this 'Grigh'hori'."

"I only have your description, lord. The security feed was disrupted outside of the hall." Ha'Gael explained, "It will take some time to-"

"Do whatever you can." Brishin interrupted the automata, though was starkly calm compared to Hassir. "If you find anyone of the description, notify the Enforcement branch of the Law bureau, Hassir will come to see them. Two Jaffa were murdered and somehow destroyed visual evidence with technology most Jaffa haven't a clue to use yet. We must act quickly."

The automata gave a quick nod and then deactivated, resting back into its alcove in the wall. Hassir gave a long, disturbed sigh. "Now, we wait."

Brishin, desiring to distract the old jaffa, commented, "We have begun forming three legions."

Hassir's eyes brightened, "Really? So soon?"

"The Quickening helped a great deal."

Hassir smiled, "Haminaku-kavin [You haven't a clue]." The elder spoke in Gjin-Ai, "It is difficult to access the information immediately, but when I know, s _ee_ or hear something, the knowledge I have access to is like a vast path of understanding being opened up to me."

Brishin nodded, "Will soon have to get these lessons myself. But onto the subject, the first legion will be focused on rigid defenses and garrison, the second with rapid deployment and the third being assault oriented, made to take the fight to the enemy." She gestured to the sky out of the window, "Soon, we will make war on our former oppressors and free our far flung siblings across the galaxy."

"One thing at a time; we make certain our people are safe. The humans included." The last phrase of the sentence had a bite of venom to it. "I assume we are not allowing the humans to join?"

"We are. Fenrir commanded such, but not many have come forward to volunteer anyways." Brishin nodded, "I think the human and jaffa populations have a fair, if under handed, understanding of one another. While a human may want to be soldier, they will not be as strong or adept as a jaffa, whilst some of us jaffa may want to be farmers or miners, humans have long been practicing these duties and will take many years to equal skills they have passed from parent to child for generations, if we can be their match at all."

Hassir gave a scoff at the idea of a human trying their hand at war. "That is fine by me. As long as I am lord, they will not hold the jaffa back."

Brishin was interrupted from her thoughts as Hassir's wrist computer sparked to life, "Lord, the Crimson King is returning ahead of schedule." Bokal's message ended with, "Prepare for a return ceremony."

Hassir sighed, "Hopefully we wont have to perform it everytime upon his future comings and goings."

"Should we tell him about this intruder?"

"No, not only would it be premature as we don't even have a solution, we shouldn't invoke the idea that the jaffa can't govern themselves mere days after he leaves the system."

"Maybe I can contact Figa to help out in the mean time, do you know where she lives?"

Hassir sighed, "She'll be hard pressed to return to service."

[][]

Figa's optics darkened automatically as the plasma torch seared secure the module to the weapon. Seems that even with the Quickening, minurtization is still an issue with Goa'uld technology, but more then happy to waste her time trying to figure it out.

She lifted the staff-carbine, thrown together from loose pieces of Va'Toks and base for the spear gun's shrinking mechanism. Right now, it was a very blocky mess, with the Va'Tok's bulb appearing out of place with the stripped down rectangle. As she pressed a rune to take it out of its rifle state and more into the shape of a traditional staff, the back end of the square seized up and a part of it started to smoke. Muttering several curses, she threw the weapon on the ground, tipping her desk over and taking cover behind it as she awaited her experiments explosive climax.

What she didn't expect was the sound to bounce off her walls and go straight for her ears like a bloodhound, the jaffa experimenter's senses being overwhelmed with an intense and overwhelming tone of deafness. She wearily stood up and looked at the searing crater where most of the second level of her new apartment was, with bits of the Staff-Carbine lodged into the walls, wooden floor furnishings and her desk and a thick layer of Naquadah burnt ash mocking the explosion in its aftermath.

'Oh good gods…' She thought as she opened and closed her mouth whilst rubbing the inside of her ear with a finger. She heard a quick knocking, believing it to be somekind of echo of blood rushing from her heart to her ears or something, she was hardly a physian. The knocking grew louder and paced far more in its frequeny. She squinted to herself, speaking aloud to see if she could even hear herself, "What time is it?" Hearing herself only dimly, she looked at the nearby holo-projector which sent the visual aid she requsted and her heart jumped in its chest, 'They're at the door!' She ran down stairs and quickly opened her dwelling to a group of four humans, who were all adorned in bright smiles as they spoke, pointlessly, to their temporarily deaf jaffa host.

"I'm sorry, I had a bit of a mishap, but please, come in. Fahn, yes, help me prepare supper and your children… Duhl and Vahm was it? Yes, set the table please."

Fahn, matriarch of the small family, ordered her family inside as her face took a tone of concern as she, to Figa's guess, asked after what has happened. Figa 'spoke over' her mute conversation, "I'm fine, I'm fine, just a small misalignment with a recent prototype."

Fahn took a frustrated look, speaking as she walked inside the house, "…..elp, even one of my children can." Figa heard dimly over the screeching tone, "Next time, please, don't hesitate to ask for our help master jaffa."

Figa smiled and rolled her eyes, rubbing her ears further. "I'm no one's master, old friend. Help me cook? I managed to track down some cattle cutlets before they were put on sale." The humans beamed from that, "If you cook those, I'll get everything else. Jaffa have poor senses of seasoning."

As the party prepared for their evening sup, Figa's hearing steadily returned. The human family not gathered in the kitchen, a father and two sons, gossiped at the table. "The jaffa keeps bringing meat to the table, I'll think of staying here."

"Refer to her by name, son."

"Why does she have us over so often?" The other child, though nearer to man's age then the other asked. "What exactly is her relationship with mother?"

Their father shrugged, "Hasn't told me, even as I asked. She mentioned that Figa was a friend when both lived on the Jungle of Ghosts for several years under a goa'uld master or another."

"Oh? Does that mean-?"

"If your mother was a house-slave of a jaffa before, I think she would have told me."

Figa walked in on time to hear the subject spoken at the table, she scoffed, "She wasn't." Placing the various finger foods on the table, "We're just friends, known each other since before either of you were born or wed to him." She gestured to her husband. "That's it, simplicity." She shrugged, "Does it _have_ to be complicated or dramatic?"

"Frankly," One son spoke, "Jaffa and humans didn't have the best of relationships."

"Well…" Figa scratched at her cheek, "Fahn and I did." Another set of knocks on her door, making Figa sigh, "Though, if she brought friends I did not invite, that's going to quickly change!" She stated loud enough for Fahn to hear her in the kitchen.

"What? I didn't bring anyone else!" She yelled back.

Figa opened her door to be met with a familiar, though unwelcome, set of eyes. "Brishin." She nodded to her politely if rigidly, "Why are you here? Dinner is almost ready."

"Uh yes, my apologies for…" Brishin leant to her side trying to get a clearer vision of her house guests, only for Figa to lean in her way. "… the visit without warning. Hassir and I need your help."

Figa grimaced, "I stopped being a warrior. If you desire to have my technical assistance, you're going to have to go through the official channels with one of the representatives at the manufacturing service."

Brishin scowled, "We've been allies for how many years? Fighting gods and their deviant servants and this is the respect you pay me? Why such scorn?"

"Not scorn, judgment. If you wish me to cease judging further, please leave."

Brishin scoffed, then shook her head, "Then 'judge' me this, why does the human, the older male at the table, look familiar?"

The response she received was a door slamming in her face and being securely locked.

Figa turned around, spotting the shocked look of her friends. "Apologies. Some poor tradeswoman needing training in replacement of nerve."

They wordlessly awaited their meals. They knew, all of them knew, what they were doing was slightly taboo, even now. A jaffa playing host for a family of humans? If the goa'uld yet lived, they would have made a mockery of both parties, stripping them of wealth and status. Death completely questionable to the serpent that found out. The knowledge that another jaffa knew of this meal made them all apprehensive, even if it was needless.

All the while, Fahn recognized the jaffa at the door and felt a sliver of sorrow strike through her heart at the memories she brought, ones made long before the Crone began her conquest of the system.

[][]

"Shame that the prince didn't wish to come with us." Fenrir sighed as he shook his head and took the command throne's seat, being followed by Kanyto, her arm covered in a cast and most her chest being covered in a dark green medical fabric. "Ah well."

Kanyto was too tired to play along with Fenrir and simply spoke, "We are ready to depart, the automata on the surface are able to continue their work alone."

"Are you saying the automata are 'autonomous'?" Fenrir smiled, "Ah, never mind. Take us home, pilot!" He ordered.

The hyperspace wake quickly formed, the blue of the ethereal realm sung across his senses like a beautiful note of music. Which was the more startling when the sensors quickly went berserk, sending out warnings and alarms, and on his command console was a rune that was so simple and yet spoke volumes of the dread that ran through him from the image.

Asgard hypersensors were roaming the nearby space. He quickly ordered an emergency departure of hyperspace, the ship exiting in an orange toned nebula that made soup of his sensor readings, but hopefully, would do the same to the Asgard when they prowl around for his hyperspace window. "Get that cloak on!"

As the vessel waited, stealthily in the murky stellar pheonomena, the view screen witnessed as massive hyperspace breach, with a massive, unrecognized class of vessel but undoubtledly Asgard of design. "Bokal, can you spot any visual clues as to the vessel's name?"

After a moment, the viewer zoomed in on the port wing of the vessel, "Script reads as follows: _Day of Tiw_ , _Bilskirnir_ class, commanded by-"

" **Tyr**." Fenrir and the machine spoke simultaneously. "He's getting a little too close to home for comfort, and I doubt we can take on whatever the Asgard made since I was put in my jail." Fenrir stared sternly at the mother ship as it passed by his vessel, hunting for him. "To hell with the goa'uld, if Tyr finds Ix'Zary and relays its status to the Ida galaxy, we won't stand a chance." He looked down, thinking. Hitting the com device for ship wide broadcast, "All crew, don vacuum gear and head to battle stations. Prepare the Wolf Glider." He looked up to the Tyr's dauntingly massive vessel, "We are going to engage the Asgard."

[][][]

 **Que Star Trek 5 battle music!**

Howdy all! Been hell in a hand basket for a bit. Don't kill me! I have six wives and two kids!

Hopefully the next chapter will come soon, but I have a real big project I need to focus on that requires more attention than I expected. Life's a bitch that way.


End file.
